(a) Permit Required. Signs for the special purposes set forth in this subsection (a) shall be permitted as provided herein upon obtaining design review and a permit as set forth in Section 16.20.020.
(1) Directory Signs. In all districts where group occupancies in office buildings are permitted, directory signs may be erected displaying the names of the occupants of a building who are engaged in a particular profession, business or the like. Such signs shall be situated at least two feet inside the property line and shall not exceed eight feet in height. Such signs may have an area of four square feet, plus one and one-half square feet per name, in no event to exceed seventy-five square feet. In the HD district, director and directional signs may be up to twelve feet in height, thirty square feet in area, and located no less than two feet from the nearest public right-of-way unless an alternative location is approved by the planning director.
(2) Construction Project Signs. Signs may be erected in conjunction with construction projects and used for the purpose of publicizing the future occupants of the building or the architects, engineers and construction organizations participating in the project. In residential districts, no such sign shall exceed twelve square feet in area and no freestanding sign shall exceed five feet in height. In other districts no sign shall exceed the area for the applicable frontage set forth in Table 1* and no freestanding sign shall exceed eight feet in height. All such signs shall be removed before a final release on the construction is given by the building official.
(3) Directional Signs. Directional signs may be erected for the purpose of facilitating or controlling the efficient or safe movement of pedestrians or vehicles on private property. Such signs shall not be used for advertising purposes and particularly shall not include the name of any person, firm, company, organization or any product or service except as approved to designate directions to different businesses on the same site. Such signs shall be located on the property to which they pertain, shall not exceed an area of six square feet nor a height of three feet and shall be located at least twenty feet within the nearest property line, except that directional signs of not more than three square feet in area may be located not less than ten feet within any front property line. Such signs shall not be permitted in R-E, R-1, or R-2 districts.
(4) Subdivision Signs. Any person or firm offering real estate for sale in an approved subdivision may erect not more than two signs indicating the location of the subdivision. No such sign shall exceed forty square feet in area. Such signs may state the name of the subdivider or subdivision or both. No such sign shall be erected on or situated within one hundred feet of any occupied residential property. No such sign shall be illuminated. The permit for any such sign shall be issued for a period of six months. At the end of such period additional extensions of ninety days each may be granted by the building official for good cause shown. Upon expiration of the permit or any extension thereof the sign shall be removed by the applicant.
(5) Off-site Advertising by Art Organizations. Nonprofit organizations having tax exempt status which are located within the city and which have been established solely for the purpose of supporting the performing and cultural arts in the city and other jurisdictions shall be permitted to utilize walls for off-site murals which may incorporate wording to name, designate, or identify the organization and/or the arts. The application shall be made jointly by the nonprofit organization and the property owner who owns the property where the mural is to be located. Said application shall be subject to review by the visual arts jury in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 2.26 and shall require architectural review approval pursuant to Chapter 18.76 (Permits and Approvals). Additionally, the following provisions shall apply:
(A) The provisions of Section 16.20.130 shall be applicable to said murals except that no part of a mural shall be counted as part of the allowable sign area for the off-site location.
(B) Murals must be painted directly on a building wall; no pennants or the like may be used.
(C) The property owner shall give his/her consent to erect, maintain, and remove the mural.
(D) The mural must be properly maintained by the nonprofit organization.
(E) The visual arts jury shall establish a maximum time period for the existence of a mural.
(F) The property owner shall be responsible for removing the mural at the completion of the authorized time period; however, nothing shall prevent an agreement that the nonprofit organization shall pay for and remove the mural.
(G) No organization shall be permitted to have more than two off-site advertising murals at any one time.
(H) Murals which are erected on city property or with city moneys shall be regulated solely by the provisions of Section 16.20.100 and Chapter 2.26.
(6) Transit Shelter Advertising Signs. Informational and advertising signs may be erected on transit shelters furnished by contract with the Santa Clara County Transit District, provided that the shelter prototype (but not each individual shelter or sign) has been approved by the architectural review board, that the location of each shelter containing advertising signs has been approved in writing by the director of planning and development services or designee, and that an encroachment permit has been obtained pursuant to Chapter 12.12 for each shelter placed on public property.
(b) No Permit Required. Signs for the special purposes set forth in this subsection (b) shall be permitted as provided herein without design review or a permit being required.
(1) For Sale or Lease Signs. In all districts signs may be erected on real estate, advertising such real estate for sale or lease. In R-1, R-E, and R-2 districts such signs shall not exceed an area of six square feet. In all other districts such signs shall meet with the requirements set forth in Table 1*.
(2) Political Signs. Political signs may be erected in conformity with this chapter including Section 16.20.100 which prohibits signs on public property. In addition, an election sign must be completely removed no later than six days following the day of the election to which it relates. Any election sign not removed within six days shall be considered abandoned and shall be removed by the building division.
(3) Window Signs. A place of business which sells goods or services to consumers may install and maintain signs on the interior face of a window of the premises or in a position inside such place of business, otherwise viewable through a window of the premises, subject to the following conditions:
(A) No more than twenty percent of the total window space on a wall may be covered by window signs at any time.
(B) A sign affixed to the interior face of a window and a sign inside a place of business, any point on which is within three feet of any point on the interior face of a window, through which window said sign may be viewed from outside such place of business, shall be deemed to be a window sign for the purposes of the window coverage limitation of this section. The full area of any window sign shall be used when window coverage is calculated for purposes of this section.
(C) Merchandise on display, which does not constitute a sign (as defined in Section 16.20.010), shall be exempt from the window coverage limitation of this section.
(Ord. 5494 § 3, 2020: Ord. 5123 § 3 (part), 2011: Ord. 4826 § 14, 2004: Ord. 4797 § 3, 2003: Ord. 4305 § 1 (part), 1995: Ord. 3559 § 1 (part), 1984)
* Editor's Note: Table 1, referred to herein, may be found at the end of this chapter in a printed edition of this code.