Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, every freestanding sign shall comply with the requirements of this section.
(a) Freestanding Signs Over Five Feet. Freestanding signs over five feet in height shall be permitted only on nonresidential properties in the Hospital zone, GM zones and on El Camino Real in the CN and CS zones and for service stations, restaurants and shopping centers elsewhere.
(1) Area and Height. The maximum area and height of such signs is set forth in Table 2.*
(2) Location. Every sign shall be wholly on the owner's property, except that for any site that encompasses a minimum of ten acres in size and contains a minimum of 50,000 square feet of retail square footage, but does not have its primary frontage on a freeway, expressway, or major arterial, a freestanding sign may be located offsite on private property with frontage on the nearest major arterial roadway. The sign size and height shall be governed by the criteria set forth in Table 2*, using the average site length dimension as the lot frontage for calculation purposes, but in no case shall the sign size exceed fifty square feet. The sign shall comply with all other regulations of this chapter, the total site signage (including the offsite sign) shall not exceed the total allowed for the site, and all other signs on the offsite property must comply with sign regulations for that site.
(3) Number. Subject to the provisions of Section 16.20.170, there may be one such sign for each frontage and one additional sign for any portion of frontage in excess of two hundred fifty feet. The size of any additional sign shall be determined from Table 2* by counting as frontage that portion thereof which is in excess of two hundred fifty feet. In the case of shopping centers and other multiple occupancies having a common frontage, the frontage shall be deemed to be that of the shopping center or commonly used parcel and not the frontages of the individual businesses or occupancies.
(4) Construction. In addition to the requirements of Section 16.20.190, every such sign shall be constructed wholly of metal, incombustible plastic or other approved fire-resistant material.
(b) Freestanding Signs Five Feet or Less In Height. Freestanding signs five feet or less in height shall be permitted in all districts within the limitations set forth in this section.
(1) Area. The maximum area of such signs is set forth in Table 1.*
(2) Location. Every such sign shall be wholly on the owner's property.
(3) Number. Subject to the provisions of Section 16.20.170, there may be no more than one such sign for each frontage. In the case of shopping centers and other multiple occupancies having a common frontage, the frontage shall be deemed to be that of the shopping center or commonly used parcel and not the frontages of the individual businesses or occupancies.
(c) Multisided Freestanding Sings. Freestanding signs constructed back-to-back, with faces in approximately parallel planes (such as both sides of a single panel) shall count as only one sign both as to number and area (i.e. only one side needbe counted). Every other freestanding sign having multiple sides or faces, including a sign constructed in the form of a cylinder or sphere or similar figure shall be limited to total area to that shown on Table 1* or Table 2*, whichever is applicable.
(d) Lighting of Freestanding signs. No freestanding sign shall be constructed in such a way that any light bulb or filament is visible from the front of the sign or from beyond the property line. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit signs of neon tubing or similar self-illuminating material of equivalent or less intensity.
(Ord. 5123 § 3 (part), 2011: Ord. 4923 § 6, 2006: Ord. 3559 § 1 (part), 1984)
* Editor's Note: Tables 1 and 2, referred to herein, may be found at the end of this chapter in a printed edition of this code.