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(B) Signs not exempted under the provisions referenced in division (A) above may be erected, moved, enlarged or substantially altered only in accordance with a sign permit issued by the Zoning Administrator or his or her designee and a building permit issued by the chief Building Inspector or his or her designee.
(1) Sign permit applications and sign permits shall be governed by the same provisions of this chapter applicable to zoning permits.
(2) In the case of a lot occupied or intended to be occupied by multiple business enterprises (e.g., a shopping center):
(a) Sign permits shall be issued in the name of the property owner rather than in the name of the individual business, and it shall be the responsibility of such owner to allocate among the tenants the permissible maximum sign surface area that has been approved by the Zoning Administrator; and
(b) Upon application by such owner, the Zoning Administrator must approve a master sign plan that allocates permissible sign surface area to the various buildings or businesses within the development according to an agreed-upon formula, and thereafter sign permits may be issued to individual tenants by the Zoning Administrator or his or her designee only in accordance with the allocation contained in the master sign plan. In the event an owner is unwilling or unable to devise a master sign plan, such plan shall be developed by the Zoning Administrator using building frontage as a calculation for total sign surface area.
(Ord. passed 4-9-2013; Ord. 2021-03, passed 6-8-2021)
The following signs are exempt from regulation under this subchapter, except for the regulations embodied in § 153.192(B) through (E):
(A) Signs not exceeding two square feet in area that are customarily associated with residential use and that are not of a commercial nature, such as signs giving property identification names or numbers or names of occupants, signs on mailboxes or paper tubes, and signs posted on private property relating to private parking or warning the public against trespassing or danger from animals;
(B) Signs erected by or on behalf of or pursuant to the authorization of a governmental body, including legal notices, identification and informational signs, and traffic, directional or regulatory signs;
(C) Official signs of an informational nature erected by public utilities;
(D) Flags, pennants or insignia of any governmental or non-profit organization when not displayed in connection with a commercial promotion or as an advertising device;
(E) Signs directing and guiding traffic on private property that do not exceed two square feet each and that bear no advertising information;
(F) Signs painted on or otherwise permanently attached to currently licensed motor vehicles that are not primarily used as signs; and
(G) Temporary help wanted signs, not to exceed six square feet in area, that do not contain the company's name or logo, unless located in a multi-tenant property, in which case no more than 30% of the sign area may be occupied by the company name or logo.
(Ord. passed 4-9-2013; Ord. 2021-03, passed 6-8-2021)
(1) Signs containing the message that the real estate on which the sign is located (including buildings) is for sale, lease or rent, together with information identifying the owner or agent. Real estate signs advertising residential properties shall not exceed four square feet in area. Real estate signs advertising commercial or industrial property shall not exceed 32 square feet in area. All real estate signs shall be removed within ten days of sale, lease or rental. For lots of five acres or more in area and abutting more than one public street, a single sign on each street frontage may be erected. Each sign shall not exceed the above-mentioned sign area.
(2) Construction site identification signs. Such signs may identify the project, the owner or developer, architect, engineer, contractor and subcontractors, and funding sources, and may contain related information. Not more than one such sign shall be erected per site, and it may not exceed 32 square feet in area. Such signs may be erected no more than 30 days prior to the issuance of a building permit and shall be removed within ten days after the issuance of the final occupancy permit.
(3) Signs proclaiming religious or other non-commercial messages that do not exceed 16 square feet in area and that are not internally illuminated. Such signs shall be limited to one per abutting street.
(4) Displays of a non-commercial nature, including lighting, erected in connection with the observance of holidays. Such signs shall be removed within ten days following the holiday or established holiday season.
(5) Signs erected in connection with elections or political campaigns. Such signs may only be posted on private property only after the official campaign period has begun and shall be removed within three days following the election or conclusion of the campaign. No such sign may exceed 12 square feet in area.
(6) Signs indicating that a special event such as a fair, carnival, circus, festival or similar happening is to take place on the lot where the sign is located. Such signs may be erected no sooner than two weeks before the event and must be removed no later than three days after the event.
(B) Temporary signs cannot be located within street rights-of-way or public property unless approved by the Board of Aldermen or its designee. Such signs include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) All signs listed in division (A) above;
(2) Signs made of paper, cloth, polyethylene film or other similar material, whether or not they include wood as a part of the structure;
(3) Signs that are not permanently affixed to the ground or a building surface in a manner approved by the Building Inspector;
(4) Trailer signs (includes such signs without trailer); and
(5) Portable signs.
(C) Although temporary signs generally do not require a zoning permit, the following exceptions do apply.
(1) Trailer signs. Trailer signs may only be used by new businesses. They cannot remain on a site in excess of 30 days, nor be modified and used as permanent signage.
(2) Portable sidewalk signs. Said signs cannot exceed a total sign surface area of six square feet, may be displayed only during normal operating hours of the business being advertised, and must be located within five feet of such commercial building. They must meet wind safety standards set by the town, and their placement upon a street right-of-way or public property must be approved by the Board of Aldermen or its designee.
(3) Miscellaneous. Banners, banner type signs, pennants, streamers, festoons of lights, flags, strings of twirlers or propellers, flares, balloons and similar devices of a carnival nature may not be used in any one-year period for more than a total of 30 days. Said devices such as banners and banner type signs shall not exceed 32 square feet of sign surface area. In the event any of the aforementioned devices are used to announce the opening of a new business, such devices may remain on a site for an additional 30 days upon the opening of such business. In addition, balloons, blimps and similar devices displayed at a height greater than 20 feet shall not exceed 36 square feet of surface area as seen at one time by a person from any vantage point. Surface area shall be computed based on the diameter of such advertising balloon or the length and width of such blimp. Said devices shall not exceed a display height of 50 feet and shall be limited to no more than one such device per development.
(Ord. passed 4-9-2013; Ord. 2021-03, passed 6-8-2021)
(A)
For the purposes of determining the number of signs, a sign shall be considered to be any surface, fabric or device bearing lettered, pictorial or sculptured matter designed to convey information visually and exposed to public view; or any structure (including billboard or poster panel) designed to carry the above visual information. A sign contains an organized relationship of elements designed to convey information.
(B) Without limiting the generality of division (A) above, a multi-sided sign shall be regarded as one sign as long as:
(1) With respect to V-type signs, the two sides are at no point separated by a distance that exceeds five feet; and
(2) With respect to double-faced (back-to-back) signs, the distance between the backs of each face does not exceed two feet.
(Ord. passed 4-9-2013; Ord. 2021-03, passed 6-8-2021)
(A)
The surface area of a sign shall be computed by including the entire area that forms the extreme limits of the writing, representation, emblem or other display, forming a square, rectangle, triangle or circle as appropriate, together with any material or color forming an integral part of the background of the display used to differentiate the sign from the backdrop or structure against which it is placed. This does not include any supporting framework or bracing that is clearly incidental to the display itself.
(B) If the sign consists of more than one section or module, all of the area, including that between sections or modules, shall be included in the computation of the sign area.
(C) Unless otherwise provided for in § 153.184(B), the surface area of two-sided, multi-sided or three-dimensional signs shall be computed by including the total of all sides designed either to attract attention or communicate information that can be seen at one time by a person from any vantage point. For example, with respect to a typical two-sided sign where a message is printed on both sides of a flat surface, the sign surface area of only one side (rather than the sum total of both sides) shall be regarded as the total sign surface area of that sign, since one can see only one side of the sign from any vantage point.
(Ord. passed 4-9-2013; Ord. 2021-03, passed 6-8-2021)
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