No sign shall be permitted in any district except as hereinafter provided.
(a) General Provisions.
(1) Signs not exceeding twelve square feet in area and advertising the sale, rental or lease of the premises on which the sign is located shall be permitted on any property.
(2) Announcement or professional signs for home occupations and professional activities where permitted shall not exceed two square feet in area in an "SR" or "R" District and not more than four square feet in other districts.
(3) Bulletin boards and signs for a church, school, community or other public or semipublic institutional building shall be permitted provided the area of such bulletin board or sign shall not exceed fifteen square feet in area.
(4) Wall signs pertaining to a nonconforming use shall be permitted on the same premises of such use, provided the area of such sign does not exceed twenty square feet.
(5) No building wall shall be used for display of advertising except that pertaining to the use carried on within such building.
(6) Temporary signs not exceeding in the aggregate fifty square feet, announcing special events or the erection of a building, the architect, the builders, contractors, etc., may be erected for the period of sixty days, plus the construction period.
(7) No sign shall be placed in any public right of way except publicly owned signs, such as traffic control signs and directional signs.
(8) Any existing sign replaced or altered must conform to the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance.
(b) Business or Industrial District Signs.
(1) In a business or industrial district, each business shall be permitted one flat or wall sign. Projections of wall signs shall not exceed two feet measured from the face of the main wall of the building.
(2) The area of all permanent advertising signs for any single business enterprise shall be limited according to the widths of the building or part of building occupied by such enterprise. For the purposes of this section, width shall be measured along the building face nearest to the street line. In the case of a corner lot, either frontage may be used in determining maximum area of the sign.
(3) The area of all permanent advertising signs for any single business enterprise may have an area equivalent to one and one-half square feet of sign area for each lineal foot of width of a building, or part of a building, occupied by such enterprise, but shall not exceed a maximum area of 100 square feet, except a maximum area of 125 square feet shall be permitted in "B-3," "B-4" and "M-1" Districts. In computing the area of freestanding or protruding signs all faces on which advertising is displayed are considered sign area.
(4) Freestanding signs not over thirty feet in height, having a maximum total sign area of 100 square feet and located not closer than ten feet to any street right-of-way line and not closer than 100 feet to any adjoining lot line may be erected to serve a group of business establishments. There shall be only one freestanding sign for each building, regardless of the number of businesses conducted in such building.
Pole signs of symbolical design shall be permitted for business establishments provided:
A. No part of such sign shall project into the right of way of any street or highway.
B. The maximum area of any face of such sign shall not exceed forty-five square feet.
C. The pole support of the sign shall not be less than fifty feet from any lot in any "SR" or "R" District.
(5) Outdoor advertising signs (billboards) shall conform to the following requirements:
A. Shall not exceed 400 square feet in area surface.
B. Shall not be located closer than 500 feet from another outdoor advertising sign and shall be limited to six structures per mile facing each travel direction of street or highway.
C. No outdoor advertising structure shall be located so as to screen from view, or mar the view of an attractive natural or manmade setting.
(c) Setback Requirements. Except as provided above, signs and outdoor advertising structures, excluding pole and symbolical signs, where permitted shall be set back from the established right-of-way line of any street or highway at least as far as the required front yard depth for a principal use in such district except for the following modifications:
(1) For every square foot by which the sign or outdoor advertising structure exceeds eighty square feet, such setback shall be increased by one-half foot but need not exceed 100 feet.
(2) At the intersection of any State or Federal highway with a major or secondary street, the setback of any sign or outdoor advertising structure shall not be less than 100 feet from the established right of way of each highway or street.
(3) Real estate signs and bulletin boards for a church, school or any other public or semipublic, religious or educational institution may be erected not less than ten feet from the established right-of-way line of any street or highway provided such sign or bulletin board does not obstruct traffic visibility at street or highway intersections.
(d) Special Yard Provisions. The following special provisions shall be observed in the erection or placement of signs and outdoor advertising structures.
(1) No such sign or advertising structure shall be permitted which faces the front or side lot line of any lot in any "SR" or "R" District within 100 feet of such lot line, or which faces any public parkway, public square or entrances to any public park, public or parochial school, library, church or similar institution, within 300 feet thereof.
(2) Signs and advertising structures where permitted shall be erected or placed in conformity with the side and rear yard requirements of the district in which located except no sign or advertising structure shall be erected or placed closer than within fifty feet to a side or rear lot line in any "SR" or "R" District.
(e) Illumination. The following provisions shall be observed in the illumination of signs and advertising structures:
(1) All signs and advertising structures except as hereinafter modified may be illuminated internally or by reflected light provided the source of light is not directly visible and is so arranged as to reflect away from the adjoining premises and provided that such illumination shall not be so placed as to cause confusion or a hazard to traffic or conflict with traffic control signs or lights.
(2) No illumination involving movement or causing the illusion of movement by reason of the lighting arrangement or other devices shall be permitted.
(f) Subdivision Signs. Upon application to the Zoning Officer, a permit may be issued as a special exception to the terms of this Zoning Ordinance allowing a land-sales sign, provided that:
(1) The sign shall not be illuminated.
(2) The sign shall advertise the sale or development of a recorded lot subdivision.
(3) The sign shall be erected only upon the property for sale or being developed.
(4) The sign shall not be in excess of forty square feet.
(5) Not more than one such sign shall be placed along one road frontage of any property in single and separate ownership, and not more than two such signs may be permitted in any single development.
(6) A permit for the erection, construction or maintenance of such sign shall expire within one year.
(g) Permits.
(1) A separate permit shall be required for the erection of signs regulated in this Zoning Ordinance, except that no permit shall be required for temporary real estate signs with an area of twelve square feet for the sale or lease of property and for small announcement signs with an area of less than four square feet. Announcement signs, except those for professional and home occupations shall be removed by the person or persons responsible for posting same within thirty days after erection.
(2) Each application for a sign permit shall be accompanied by a drawing showing the design proposed, the size, character and color of letters, lines and symbols, method of illumination; the exact location of the sign in relation to the building and property, the details and specifications for construction. A fee of three dollars ($3.00) shall accompany each application for a sign permit.
(h) Exemptions. Public notices, traffic control signs and other official signs and notices are exempt from the provisions of this section.