For the purposes of this article, the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
(a) “Building Inspector” means an agent of the City of Princeton authorized to permit, inspect, approve, or deny construction within the City and an authorized government representative on sign issues.
(b) “Commercial Message” means any sign wording, logo, or other representation that, directly or indirectly, names, advertises, or calls attention to a business, product, service, sale, or sales event or other commercial activity.
(c) “Display Surface Area” means the net geometric area enclosed by the display surface of the sign including the outer extremities of all letters, characters, and delineations; provided, however, that display surface area shall not include the structural supports for free standing signs.
(d) “District or Zoning District” means a section or sections of the incorporated area of the City of Princeton for which the then effective Zoning Ordinance governing the use of buildings and land are uniform for each class of use permitted therein.
(e) “Erect” means to build, construct, attach, hang, place, suspend, or affix and shall also include the painting of wall signs.
(f) “Flag” means any fabric, banner, or bunting containing distinctive colors, patterns, or symbols used as a symbol of a government, political subdivision, or other entity.
(g) “Lease” means an agreement by which a property owner conveys, usually for a specified rent, permission to other persons to erect and maintain an advertising sign upon his property.
(h) “Lot” means any piece or parcel of land or a portion of a subdivision, the boundaries of which have been established by some legal instrument of record, that is recognized and intended as a unit for the purpose of transfer of ownership.
(i) “Mall” means any concentration of retail stores and/or service establishments which share customer parking areas and are located within an enclosure having public walkways; whereby, a customer in one (1) store or establishment may walk to another store or establishment without leaving the enclosure.
(j) “Mansard Roof” means any roof that has an angle greater than forty-five (45) degrees, which derives part of its support from the building wall, and is attached to (but not necessarily a part of) a low slope roof and which extends along the full length of the front building wall or three-quarters of the length of a side building wall. For purposes of this definition, a low slope roof shall mean any roof with a pitch less than three (3) inches rise per twelve (12) inches horizontal.
(k) “Person” means and includes any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or organization either singular or plural.
(l) “Principal Building” means the building in which is conducted the principal use of the zone lot on which it is located. Zone lots with multiple principal uses may have multiple principal buildings, but storage buildings, garages, and other clearly accessory uses shall not be considered principal buildings.
(m) “Public Event” means any event that is authorized by the City of Princeton whether funded in part, total, or not at all by the City.
(n) “Setback” means the distance from the property line to the nearest part of the applicable building, structure, or sign as measured perpendicularly to the property line.
(o) “Shopping center” means any combination of two (2) or more retail stores and/or service establishments sharing customer parking areas, regardless of whether said stores and/or establishments occupy separate structures or are under separate ownerships.
(p) “Sign” means and includes every device, frame, letter, figure, character, mark, plane, point, design, picture, logo, stroke, stripe, trademark, or reading matter which is used or intended to be used to attract attention or convey information when the same is placed out-of-doors in view of the general public. The term "sign" shall also include any of the above which is not placed out-of-doors, and is placed near the inside surface of a window in such a way as to be in view of the general public and used or intended to be used to attract attention or convey information to motorists.
(1) “Animated Sign” means any sign that uses movement or change of lighting, either natural or artificial, to depict action or create a special effect of scene.
(2) “Area Identification Sign” means a sign to identify a common area containing a group of structures, or a single structure on a minimum site of five (5) acres, such as a residential subdivision, apartment complex, industrial park, or shopping center, located at the entrance or entrances to the area.
(3) “Banner” means any sign of lightweight fabric or similar material that is mounted to a pole or building at one or more edges. National flags, state or municipal flags, or the official flag of any institution or business shall not be considered banners.
(4) “Beacon” means a stationary or revolving light which flashes or projects illumination, single color or multi-colored, in any manner which is intended to attract or divert attention.
(5) “Building Marker” means any sign indicating the name of a building, date of construction, and incidental information about its construction which is cut into a masonry surface or made of bronze or other permanent material.
(6) “Building Sign” means any sign attached to any part of a building, as contrasted to a freestanding sign.
(7) “Bulletin Board” means any sign erected by a public body or a charitable, educational, or religious institution which is placed upon the same property as said institution, for the purpose of announcing events which are held on the premises and contains no commercial message.
(8) “Canopy Sign” means any sign that is a part of or attached to an awning, canopy, or other fabric, plastic, or structural protective cover over a door, entrance, window, or outdoor service area. A marquee is not a canopy.
(9) “Changeable Copy Sign/Reader Board” means a sign or portion thereof with characters, letters, or illustrations that can be changed or rearranged without altering the face or the surface of the sign. A sign on which the message changes more than eight times per day shall be considered an animated sign and not a changeable copy sign for purposes of this article. A sign on which the only copy that changes is an electronic or mechanical indication of time or temperature shall be considered a "time and temperature" portion of a sign and not a changeable copy sign for purposes of this article.
(10) “Directional Sign” means a sign of a noncommercial nature which directs the reader to the location of public or educational institutions, or to the location of historical structures or areas, or to the location of public parks or buildings.
(11) “Flashing Sign” means an illuminated sign on which artificial or reflected light is not maintained stationary and constant in intensity and color at all times when in use.
(12) “Freestanding Sign” means a sign which is attached to or a part of a completely self-supporting structure. The supporting structure shall be set firmly in or below the ground surface and shall not be attached to any building or any other structure whether portable or stationary.
(13) “Garage/Yard Sale Sign” means a sign for a private sale of personal property used to dispose of personal household possessions.
(14) “Identification and Informational Sign” means signs of an identification or of informational nature bearing no advertising.
(15) “Illuminated Sign” means any sign which has characters, letters, figures, designs, or outline illuminated by electric lights or luminous tubes and in which the lights or tubes are located within the interior of the sign as a part of the sign proper.
A. “Illumination Direct” means illumination which is so arranged that the light is directed into the eyes of the viewer from the light source.
B. “Illumination Indirect” means illumination so arranged that the light is reflected from the sign to the eyes of the viewer.
C. “Spot Light Illumination” means illumination which comes from lamps, lenses or devices designed to focus or concentrate the light rays of the source.
(16) “Incidental Sign” means a sign, generally informational, that has a purpose secondary to the use of the lot on which it is located, such as "no parking,""entrance," "loading only," "telephone," and other similar directives. No sign with a commercial message legible from a position off the lot on which the sign is located shall be considered incidental.
(17) “Joint Identification Sign” means a sign which serves as common or collective identification for a group of persons or businesses operating on the same zone lot such as a shopping center or office complex. Such sign may name the persons or businesses included, but shall carry no other advertising matter.
(18) “Marquee” means any permanent roof-like structure projecting beyond a building or extending along and projecting beyond the wall of the building, generally designed and constructed to provide protection from the weather.
(19) “Nonconforming Sign” means a sign existing at the effective date of the adoption of this article which could not be built under the terms of this article.
(20) “Off-Site Sign” means a sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service, entertainment, or attraction sold, offered, or existing elsewhere than upon the same lot where such sign is displayed. The term off- site sign shall include an outdoor advertising sign (billboard) on which space is leased or rented by the owner thereof to others for the purpose of conveying a commercial or noncommercial message.
(21) “On-Site Sign” means a sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service, entertainment, or attraction sold, offered, or existing on the same lot where such sign is displayed; provided, an on-site sign may also display a noncommercial message.
(22) “Outdoor Menu Board” means an outdoor sign, associated with restaurants with drive-through windows, or curb service which gives a detailed list of foods served that are available at a restaurant.
(23) “Pennant” means any lightweight plastic, fabric, or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire, or string, usually in series and designed to move in the wind.
(24) “Portable Sign” means any sign not permanently attached to the ground or other permanent structure, or a sign designed to be transported, including, but not limited to, signs designed to be transported by means of wheels; signs converted to “A” or “T” frames; menu and sandwich board signs; balloons used as signs; umbrellas used for advertising; and signs attached to or painted on vehicles parked and visible from the public right-of-way, unless said vehicle is used in the normal day-to-day operations of the business.
(25) “Portable Temporary Attraction Sign Board” means a single or double surface painted or poster panel type sign or some variation thereof, which is temporary in nature, usually mounted on wheels, easily moveable.
(26) “Projecting Sign” means any sign that shall be affixed at an angle or perpendicularly to the wall of any building in such a manner to read perpendicularly or at an angle to the wall on which it is mounted.
(27) “Real Estate Sign” means a temporary sign placed upon property for the purpose of advertising to the public the sale or lease of said property.
(28) “Residential Sign” means any sign located in a district zoned for residential use that contains no commercial message, except advertising for goods or services legally offered on the premises where the sign is located, if offering such service at such location conforms with all requirements of the City of Princeton.
(29) “Roof Sign” means any sign erected and constructed wholly on and over the roof of a building, supported by the roof structure, and extending vertically above the highest portion of the roof.
(30) “Roof Sign, Integral” means any sign erected or constructed as an integral or essentially integral part of a normal roof structure of any design, such that no part of the sign extends vertically above the highest portion of the roof and such that no part of the sign is separated from the rest of the roof by a space of more than six (6) inches.
(31) “Suspended Sign” means a sign that is suspended from the underside of a horizontal plane surface and is supported by such surface.
(32) “Temporary Sign” means any sign that is used only temporarily and is not permanently mounted.
(33) “Wall Sign” means any sign that shall be affixed parallel to the wall or printed on the wall of any building in such a manner as to read parallel to the wall on which it is mounted; provided, however, said wall sign shall not project above the top of the wall or beyond the end of the building. For the purpose of this article, any sign display surface that is affixed flat against the sloping surface of a mansard roof shall be considered a wall sign. Any sign that is affixed to the building marquee, building awning, or a building canopy shall be considered a wall sign.
(34) “Window Sign” means any sign, pictures, symbol or combination thereof, designed to communicate information about an activity, business, commodity, event, sale, or service, that is placed inside a window or upon the window.
(q) “Streets and Sidewalks” means a strip of land or access way subject to vehicular traffic and/or pedestrian traffic that provides direct or indirect access to property, including, but not limited to alleys, avenues, boulevards, courts, drives, highways, lanes, places, roads, sidewalks, terraces, trails, or other thoroughfares.
(r) “Street Frontage” means the distance for which a lot line of a zone lot adjoins a public street, from one lot line intersecting said street to the furthest distant lot line intersecting the same street.
(s) “Zone Lot” means a parcel of land in single ownership that is of sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for area, coverage, and use and that can provide such yards and other open spaces as required by the Zoning Regulations.
(t) “Zoning Official” means an administrative officer of the City of Princeton charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance and an authorized government representative on sign issues.
(Passed 1-6-97.)