The following words and phrases shall be used to interpret Part 17 of this chapter, as it specifically applies to signs; otherwise, the general definitions given in § 600-2202 shall apply:
BACK-TO-BACK SIGN — A sign with two parallel faces oriented in opposite directions and located not more than 10 feet apart. A back-to-back sign shall constitute one outdoor advertising sign.
BANNER SIGN — A sign made of fabric or any nonrigid material with no enclosing framework.
BILLBOARD — A nonidentity sign, exceeding 32 square feet in surface area, which advertises goods, products or services which are not sold, manufactured, offered or provided on or from the premises on which the sign is located.
BUILDING LINE — A line formed by the intersection of a vertical wall with the ground at average grade level. In case of a cantilevered building, the vertical plane will coincide with the most projected surface. A building line shall not be closer to the lot line the required yard requirements.
BUILDING OCCUPANCY — That portion of a building occupied by one specific tenant, measured by floors inhabited.
BUILDING PERIMETER — The horizontal linear measures, at grade, of all the walls of a building.
BUILDING WALL — The horizontal lineal measures at grade of a single building wall. When the permitted surface area of a sign is related to building frontage or building wall, only the wall which is parallel to the sign face shall be used in computing sign area. If the sign face is not parallel to a wall, the wall to which it is more nearly parallel shall be used in computing sign area.
CODE — The City of Reading Zoning Ordinance [this chapter] or any section thereof.
CURB or CURBLINE — The line in a public right-of-way, constructed or proposed, which separates the portion of the right-of-way dedicated to vehicular traffic from that dedicated to pedestrian traffic. The official City Map, on file in the Office of the Department of Public Works, shall be the final authority on the location of curblines, should a dispute arise.
DIRECTIONAL SIGN — An incidental sign designed to guide or direct pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
DOUBLE-FACED SIGN — A sign with two adjacent faces oriented in the same direction and not more than 10 feet apart at the nearest point between the two faces. A double-faced sign may be referred to as a side-by-side or stacked sign. A double-faced sign shall constitute one outdoor advertising sign.
EAVELINE — See "roof line."
FREESTANDING SIGN — A permanent sign which is supported by one or more columns, uprights or braces in or upon the ground and not attached to any building, and that does not exceed a total of 20 feet in height above grade, unless a differing height is specified in this chapter.
FRONT PROPERTY LINE — See "street property line."
GRADE — The lowest point of elevation of the finished surface of the ground between a point directly below or at the sign location and any point five feet distant from the sign location, or, if the sign, or any projection thereof, is less than five feet distant from the property line, the lowest point of elevation of the finished surface of the ground between a point directly below or at the sign location and the property line. In case the sign or any projection thereof is within five feet of a public sidewalk, alley or other public way, the grade shall be the elevation of the sidewalk, alley or public way.
GRAPHIC ELEMENT — A word, an abbreviation, a symbol, a geometric shape, or a person's or firm's initials or logo containing up to seven letters. Punctuation marks are not counted in computing the number of graphic elements.
GROUND-MOUNTED SIGN — A type of freestanding sign which is anchored to the ground similar to a pylon, but which has a monolithic or columnar line and which maintains essentially the same contour from grade to top.
HEIGHT or HEIGHT OF SIGN — The vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of a sign or any vertical projection thereof.
IDENTITY OR IDENTIFICATION SIGN — A sign which carries only the firm name, major enterprise or principal product or service situated or furnished on the premises on which the sign is located.
ILLUMINATED SIGN — A sign with an artificial light source incorporated internally or externally for the purpose of illuminating the sign.
IMPROVEMENT — Any of the following acts: to excavate for or store material, machinery or equipment on a lot in connection with the erection, construction, placement, reconstruction, alteration, repair, extension, replacement, restoration or conversion of any structure, building and/or sign, except if specifically excluded by this chapter; or to change the use, area of use, or percentage of use; or to extend or displace the use in part or in total of any structure, building, sign and/or land.
LOCATION or SIGN LOCATION — A lot, premises, building, wall or any place whatsoever upon which a sign is erected, constructed or maintained.
LOT OF RECORD — A parcel of land, the dimensions of which are shown on a recorded subdivision plan on file with the Recorder of Deeds of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and which actually exists as so shown; or, if no recorded subdivision exists, land which is described in a deed legally recorded with the Recorder of Deeds and which actually exists as so described.
MAINTAIN — To allow to exist or continue.
MAINTENANCE — The cleaning, painting, repair, or replacement of defective parts of a sign in a mariner that does not alter the basic display area, design or structure of the sign.
MARQUEE SIGN — Any flat wall identity sign painted on, attached to or constructed in a marquee, provided the sign shall be contained entirely within the limits of the marquee surface to which it is attached and provided further that the sign is in the same plane as such surface.
NAMEPLATE — A sign which contains only the name and occupation of the occupant of a building and does not exceed 1 1/2 square feet in size.
NONCONFORMING SIGN — A sign or sign display area that was erected legally but does not conform to the regulations of this chapter nor of the zone in which it is located.
OCCUPANCY AREA — The first floor occupancy area for a one-story building shall extend from the sidewalk or grade line to three feet above the roof line at the wall line or to the top of the parapet wall, whichever is higher. For buildings which are two or more floors in height, the first floor occupancy shall extend to three feet above the second floor line. The second and subsequent floor occupancies shall extend from three feet above the occupied story floor line to three feet above the floor line of the story above, or to three feet above the roof line at the wail line or to the top of the parapet wall, whichever is higher.
OFF-PREMISES SIGN — A sign which directs attention to a business, industry, profession, commodity, service or entertainment not sold or offered upon the premises where the sign is located.
OUTLET STORE — A retail store which sells merchandise directly from the manufacturer, often at reduced or discounted prices.
PERMIT or SIGN PERMIT — A certificate issued by the Zoning Administrator for the erection of replacement of any sign in the City except as otherwise specified in this chapter. Regulations governing sign permits, penalties, nonconformity, appeals and other administrative matters are found in this section and in other sections.
POLE SIGN — A sign shall have the same meaning as a "freestanding sign."
PORTABLE SIGN — Any sign that is not attached to a structure or structures, is intended, by design, use, or construction, to be used by resting upon the ground for support and may be easily moved or relocated for reuse. This shall include signs mounted upon or designed to be mounted upon a trailer or a wheeled carrier as well as A-frame signs.
PROJECTING SIGN — A sign which uses as its main source of support a building wall or anything attached thereto and which, for signs located entirely more than eight feet six inches above the sidewalk or grade, projects more than 18 inches, or which, for signs located less than eight feet six inches above the sidewalk or grade, projects more than four inches. Such projection always shall be measured from the building wall itself.
PROJECTION — The maximum distance between any part of a sign and the wall to which it is attached.
PROPERTY — A lot.
PROPERTY LINE — The perimeter line of a lot.
PUBLIC PROMENADE — An outdoor open space devoted to public pedestrian traffic only. Such open space may contain open-air cafes, kiosks, bazaars, benches, statuary, fountains, telephone booths, and vendor or information structures not exceeding 200 square feet of ground coverage.
ROOF SIGN — A sign erected upon or above a roof or roofline of a building and which is wholly or partially supported by such building or roof. A sign attached to a parapet wall shall not be considered a roof sign as long as no part of the sign projects above the top of the parapet wall. If a building contains several roofs at varying grades, the roof supported by the vertical surface upon which the sign is attached shall be used to determine whether or not such sign is a roof sign.
ROOFLINE — The lowest point of any part of a roof or the point on any vertical surface of a building which is closest to the lowest point of any part of a roof.
SIGN — Any permanent or temporary structure or part thereof, or any device attached, painted or represented directly or indirectly on or in a structure or other outdoor surface that shall display or include any letter, word, insignia or representation used as, or which is in the nature of, an advertisement, announcement, visual communication, direction, or is designed to bring the subject to the attention of the public. The term "sign" shall not include the flag of any public, semipublic, civic, charitable or religious group.
SIGN AREA or SIGN DISPLAY AREA —
A. "Sign area" shall include all lettering, wording and accompanying designs and symbols, together with related background areas on which they are displayed. One "freestanding sign" may include several signs that are all attached to one structure, with the total "sign area" being the area of a common geometric form that could encompass all signs.
B. The "sign area" shall not include any structural supports that do not include a message.
C. Where the sign consists of individual letters or symbols attached to or painted directly on a building or window, other than an illuminated background that is a part of the sign, the sign area shall be the smallest rectangle that includes all of the letters and symbols.
D. The maximum sign area of sign shall be for each of two sides of a sign, provided that only one side of a sign is readable from any location.
E. The two-dimensional area included on one side of a sign, which includes the frame or edge of the sign, if any. For measurement purposes, the sign display area shall be deemed the smallest two-dimensional square, rectangle, triangle, circle or combination thereof which will encompass the entire side of the sign.
F. Unless otherwise specified, all square footages in regards to signs are maximum sizes.
SIGN STRUCTURE — Any structure which supports or is capable of supporting any sign, as defined in this Part. A sign structure may or may not be an integral part of the building.
STREET, ROADWAY or TRAVELED WAY — A public thoroughfare which has been or will be dedicated or deeded to the public for public uses. As used in this section, a street, roadway or traveled way is that portion of the right-of-way located between curblines. The topographic survey, located in the Department of Public Works office, shall be the final authority should the existence or location of any street be disputed.
STREET FRONTAGE — The linear measure of the street property line.
STREET PROPERTY LINE — That portion of a lot line that is coincident with the public right- of-way.
TRAFFIC ROUTES — The following streets shall be considered traffic routes only where they occur within the City of Reading as described below, and only where located in the C-H and H- M and MU Zones:
A. North Front Street (Business U.S. Route 222) north of Amity Street to the City boundary line. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
B. Warren Street By-Pass (Route 12) north of Wayne Avenue.
C. Lancaster Avenue (Business U.S. Route 222) from Morgantown Road to Funston Avenue.
D. West Shore By-Pass (U.S. Route 422).
E. McKnight Street. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
F. Meade Street. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
G. Noble Street. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
H. West Robeson Street. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
I. Hancock Boulevard. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
J. River Road. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
K. Lincoln Street. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
L. Car Tech Road. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
M. Marion Street. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
N. Weisser Street. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
O. Gerry Street east of Hancock Boulevard. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
P. Liggest Avenue east of Hancock Boulevard. [Added 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
TRIM — The moldings, battens, cappings, nailing strips, latticing and platforms that are attached to the sign structure.
UNDER-MARQUEE SIGN — An identification sign displayed below a marquee.
V-SHAPED SIGN — Any sign having two or three faces in the shape of the letter "V" or in the shape of a triangle when viewed from above, with the faces oriented in different directions and located not more than 10 feet apart at the closest points. A "V-type" sign shall constitute one outdoor advertising sign.
WALL SIGN or FLAT WALL SIGN — Any sign painted upon or attached to or erected against the wall of a building or structure with the exposed face of the sign in a plane parallel to the plane of such wall and projecting not more than 12 inches, for signs located entirely more than eight feet six inches above the sidewalk or grade line, or not more than four inches for signs located less than eight feet six inches above the sidewalk or grade line. A sign on a window or porch awning shall be considered a flat wall sign.
43. Editor's Note: Former § 27-2204, Flood zone definitions, was repealed 6-11-2012 by Ord. No. 64-2012.