(a) Signs shall mean any visual communication display, object, device, graphic, structure or part, situated indoors or outdoors, or attached to, painted on or displayed from a building or structure, in order to direct or attract attention, or to announce or promote, an object, product, place, activity, person, institution, organization, or business or the like, by means of letters, words, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, logo, device designs, colors, symbols, fixtures, images, illuminations or representation used as, or which is in the nature of an announcement, direction, or advertisement. For the purpose of this Code, the word “sign” does not include flag, pennant, badge, or insignia of any government or governmental agency.
(b) Animated Sign shall mean any sign that uses flashing lights or movement of the sign or some element thereof, to depict action or create a special effect or scene.
(c) Awning or Canopy Sign shall mean any sign that is painted on, printed on or attached to an awning, canopy, or other fabric, plastic, or structural protective cover.
(d) Back Lighted Letter is an illuminated reverse channel letter with an open or translucent back so that light from the letter is directed against the surface behind the letter producing a halo lighting effect around the letter; also referred to as a silhouette or halo-lighted.
(e) Banner Sign shall mean a sign made of lightweight fabric or similar material with no enclosing framework that is secured to a building or other structure at one or more edges.
(f) Billboard Sign (synonymous with off-site advertising) shall mean a sign that directs attention to a business, commodity, service or entertainment conducted, sold, or offered elsewhere than upon the same lot.
(g) Building Sign shall mean any sign attached parallel to any part of a building and including wall signs, awning or canopy signs and window signs.
(h) Cabinet Sign is a sign structure consisting of the frame and face(s) not including the internal components, embellishments, or support structure.
(i) Changeable Copy Sign shall mean a portion of a sign with letters, characters, or graphics that are not permanently affixed to the structure, framing, or background allowing the letters, characters or graphics to be modified manually from time to time as situations change, such as a bulletin board or announcement board.
(j) Channel letter is a fabricated or formed three-dimensional letter that may accommodate light source. (Ord. 3-2006. Passed 2-28-06.)
(k) Electronic Message Display Sign is a variable message sign that utilizes computer generated messages or some other electronic means of changing copy.
(Ord. 23-2014. Passed 5-13-14.)
(l) Entrance or Exit Sign shall mean a sign located at the driveway entrance or exit and intended to provide for safe ingress and egress.
(m) Exterior Illuminated Sign is a sign that is illuminated by a light source that is directed towards and shines on the face of a sign; also called direct illumination.
(n) Flag Sign shall mean a piece of flexible material having a distinctive size, color, and design, used as a symbol, standard, signal, or emblem.
(o) Ground or Monument Sign shall mean a sign supported from the ground and not attached to any building, and shall include a “Post and Panel Sign.”
(p) Halo lighted See definition (d) Backlighted letter.
(q) Ideological Sign shall mean any temporary sign announcing an idea, opinion or position on a social or political issue and containing no commercial message.
(r) Illuminated Sign shall mean a sign with an artificial light source incorporated internally or externally for the purpose of illuminating the sign.
(s) Instructional Sign shall mean a sign that has a purpose secondary to the use on the lot and that is intended to instruct employees, customers, or users as to matters of public safety or necessity such as specific parking requirements, the location or regulations pertaining to specific activities on the site or in the building, and including a sign erected by a public authority, utility, public service organization, or private industry that is intended to control traffic; direct, identify or inform the public; or provide needed public service as determined by the rules and regulations of governmental agencies or through public policy.
(t) Internally Illuminated Sign is sign illuminated internally through its sign face by a light source contained inside the sign.
(u) Marquee Sign shall mean a sign attached to a structure, other than an awning or canopy sign, projecting from a wall of a building above an entrance and extending over a street, sidewalk, or part thereof.
(v) Mobile Sign shall mean a sign that is on wheels, runners, casters, or has a frame to which wheels, runners, or casters may be affixed, parked trailers, parked vehicles, or other mobile devices, including tethered and/or anchored balloons.
(w) Pan Channel Letter is a dimensional letter that is constructed with sidewalls, a back, and a face making the letter a solid integral unity with the sidewalls and back having a pan-shaped cross section.
(x) Permanent Sign shall mean a sign that is not temporary.
(y) Post and Panel Sign shall mean a Sign Face supported between two posts on each end of the Sign Face. (See example of post and panel sign below.)
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(z) Projecting Sign shall mean a sign that is attached to a building wall and extending twelve (12) inches or more perpendicular to the face of the wall.
(aa) Reverse Channel Letter is a fabricated dimensional letter with opaque face and sidewalls. (See definition (d) Backlighted letter.)
(bb) Roof Sign shall mean a sign erected, constructed or maintained wholly upon or over the roof or parapet wall of any building with the principal support on the roof structure.
(cc) Sign Face shall mean the area or display surface used for the message.
(dd) Sign Plate shall mean a wall sign not exceeding two (2) square foot in area.
(ee) Temporary Sign shall mean a sign that is designed to be used only temporarily and is not intended to be permanently attached to a building, a structure or permanently installed in the ground.
(ff) Wall Sign shall mean a sign painted on, 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 the wall and not extending more than twelve (12) inches therefrom and which does not project above the roofline or beyond the corner of the building.
(gg) Window Sign shall mean a sign that is applied or attached to a window or door, or a sign located near a window within a building for the purpose of being visible to and read from the outside of the building except for signs that are not legible from a distance of more than three (3) feet beyond the building in which such sign is located.
(Ord. 3-2006. Passed 2-28-06.)