The following principals shall control the computation of sign area and sign height:
(a) Determining Sign Area or Dimension. The area of a sign shall be determined using the following calculation methods.
(1) For a sign that is framed, outlined, painted or otherwise prepared and designed to include a background for a sign display, the sign area or dimensions shall include the entire portion within such background or frame.
(2) For a sign comprised of individual letters, figures, emblems, logos or elements on a wall, or an irregular shaped sign. The area of the sign shall mean the entire area within a geometric shape such as, but not limited to, a circle, triangle, parallelogram, rectangle, or square, enclosing the extreme limits of individual letters, figures, emblems, logos or elements together with other material(s) or color forming an integral part of the display used to differentiate the sign from the background against which it is placed.
(3) The sign area shall include the frame, but shall not include the structural support unless such structural support is illuminated or otherwise so designated to constitute a display device.
(4) The area for a sign with more than one face shall be computed by adding together the area of all sign faces visible. When two identical sign faces are placed back to back so that both faces cannot be viewed from any point at the same time, and when such sign faces are part of the same sign structure and are not more than 18 inches apart, the sign area shall be computed by the measurement of one of the faces.
(b) Determining Sign Height. The height of a freestanding or monument sign shall be measured from the site plan approved grade at the sign location.
(c) Determining Building Frontage and Building Unit. The building wall that faces the principal street or building wall that contains the main entrance to the use(s) therein shall be considered the primary building frontage.
(1) The primary building frontage shall be measured along the length of the wall that contains the main entrance and which is between the exterior faces of the perpendicular walls.
(3) For lots fronting on two or more streets, or where the building has its main entrance on a wall other than the wall that faces the street, the property owner shall determine which wall shall be the primary building frontage. Only one outside wall of any business shall be considered its primary frontage.
(4) For multi-tenant buildings with a common primary building frontage for each of the tenants, the portion of a building that is owned or leased by a single tenant shall be considered a building unit. The building frontage for a building unit shall be measured from the centerline of the party walls defining the building unit.
(d) Architectural Features. Architectural features that are part of the building or part of a monument structure are not considered signs and are thus exempt from these regulations. An architectural feature is any construction attending to, but not an integral part of the sign, and which may consist of landscape or building or structural forms complementing the site in general.
(Ord. 15-01. Passed 9-22-03.)