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In all areas of the City, outdoor advertising signs and non-accessory signs shall not be permitted within 500 ft. of any other outdoor advertising sign. This spacing requirement shall not apply to on-premise or accessory signs, non-commercial signs, and highway directional signs.
(a) The maximum sign area of any outdoor advertising sign is:
(.1) For frontages along a street or right-of-way that is less than 60 ft. wide, 1,000 sq. ft. per sign face.
(.2) For frontages along a street or right-of-way that are 60 ft. wide or more, 1,500 sq. ft. per sign face.
(b) Special Effects Elements that extend beyond the top and side edges of the sign face are permitted provided such elements do not extend more than 6 ft. from the top edge and no more than 3 ft. from the side edges. Special effects elements may not extend below the bottom edge of the sign face. Those portions of such special effects elements that extend beyond the edges of the sign face shall be considered as embellishments whose total area may not exceed 288 sq. ft. A sign face and any extended elements may include three-dimensional features, provided such features do not extend more than 5 ft. from the plane of the sign face. Special Effects Elements may not be digital.
Notes
| 973 | Amended, Bill No. 130656-AA (approved July 1, 2015). |
(a) The bottom edge of any outdoor advertising sign shall not be located more than 25 ft. above the road surface from which the advertising message is intended to be principally viewed and the sign shall not extend more than 20 ft. in height above its bottom edge, except as provided in subsection (5)(d).
(b) When an outdoor advertising sign is to be erected in a location within 150 ft. of two or more street, road, highway, or bridge surfaces, the maximum height of an outdoor advertising sign shall be measured from the surface with the lowest grade elevation.
(c) Where other provisions of The Philadelphia Code are more restrictive than this Chapter 14-900 in terms of height regulations, the more restrictive height regulations shall apply for non-accessory signs whether the signs are freestanding or roof signs.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, if a noise barrier or permanent road sign erected by a governmental entity after a sign has been erected diminishes the visibility of the sign from the road surface from which the sign is intended to be principally viewed, then the height of the sign may be increased to the minimum height required to achieve the same degree of visibility from such road surface that the sign had prior to the erection of the noise barrier or permanent road sign. For purposes of this provision, a "noise barrier" is a standalone wall or similar structure designed for outdoor noise mitigation, whether denominated as a sound wall, sound berm, sound barrier, noise- attenuation barrier, acoustical barrier, or otherwise.
Notes
| 974 | Amended, Bill No. 130656-AA (approved July 1, 2015). |
(a) Signs, other than digital signs, may be illuminated, but the illumination shall be focused upon the sign itself, so as to prevent glare upon the surrounding areas. 975
(b) Flashing signs, signs with intermittent illumination, or signs with mechanically or electronically changing messages shall not be erected within 500 ft. of any Residential district, nor face any Residential district within 1,000 ft. of the sign.
(c) Signs that revolve shall require approval from the Zoning Board through the special exception process in § 14-303(7).
Notes
| 975 | Amended, Bill No. 130656-AA (approved July 1, 2015). |
(a) Digital signs shall not be erected or converted from non-digital to digital within 500 ft. of any residentially zoned district, nor face any residentially zoned district within 1,000 ft. of the sign.
(b) Digital Illumination Standards; Automatic Dimming.
During daylight hours luminance of a digital billboard shall be no greater than 6,500 nits. At all other times, luminance of a digital billboard shall be no greater than 450 nits. In addition, digital billboards shall not operate at brightness levels of more than 0.3 foot candles above ambient light, as measured using a foot candle meter at the following preset distances:
Nominal Face Size
|
Distance to be Measured From
|
12' x 25' | 150' |
10'6" x 36' | 200' |
14' x 48' | 250' |
20' x 60' | 350' |
Automatic dimming is required to keep luminance within permitted levels at all times.
(c) Motion.
All motion is prohibited on digital displays. Only static text and graphics shall be permitted. A display change between messages shall not constitute motion. Holographic or three-dimensional projections are prohibited. The digital display shall contain a default mechanism that will freeze the sign in one position or show a black blank screen if a malfunction occurs.
(d) Timing.
The duration of each display shall be no less than eight (8) seconds.
(e) Digital Sign Conversions.
Non-accessory signs may not be converted to digital unless they are located within 660 ft. of I-95 or I-76; are intended to be principally viewed from one of those roadways; and meet all of the other requirements of this code.
(f) Applicability.
Unless expressly provided to the contrary, the provisions of this subsection (8) (Digital Billboards):
(.1) Shall not apply in the Market East Advertising District described in § 14-906.
(.2) Shall be considered safety regulations applicable to all signs, regardless whether they pre-date or post-date the addition of this subsection (8) to the Code.
Notes
| 976 |
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