(A) The following signs shall be exempt from the provisions of this subchapter, except they must meet the general provisions under § 153.101 and this section.
(1) Official notices authorized by a court, public body, or public safety official.
(2) Interior window signs in business and industrial districts, subject to the following limitations:
(a) No more than 1/2 of any individual window is covered with signs or painting; and
(b) Window signs shall not be counted against the sign area permitted for other sign types.
(3) Interior signs.
(4) Directional, warning, or informational signs authorized by federal, state, or municipal governments, provided they do not exceed 48 square feet.
(5) Pedestrian, vehicular traffic, and parking directional signs in parking lots or on buildings, provided such signs are no more than 8 square feet in area and 6 feet in height. For a parcel, a maximum of 1 such sign shall be allowed at each access/egress point of a development. No advertising message of any kind is allowed on these signs.
(6) Memorial tablets, names of buildings, and date of erection, when cut into any masonry surface or when constructed of bronze or other incombustible material.
(7) Headstones, gravestones, grave markers, or other similar signs attached to, or adjacent to, a burial plot, columbarium, mausoleum, or the like.
(8) Flags, subject to the following (any individual flag in excess of these amounts shall be regulated as a sign):
(a) Public, Commercial, and Industrial zoned properties: 150 square feet; and
(b) Residential zoned properties: 40 square feet.
(9) Awnings without printing, with the exception of street address number (number only), are considered an architectural feature and are not regulated by this section.
(10) Canopies without printing, with the exception of a street address number (number only), are considered an architectural feature and are not regulated by this section.
(11) Street address signs, and combination nameplate and street address signs which contain no advertising copy and which do not exceed 6 square feet in area.
(12) Temporary signs, not more than 4 square feet and in place no longer than 4 days per event. These may not be placed on public rights-of-way or attached to trees or utility poles. The city shall have the right to remove and dispose of signs not conforming to this division.
(13) Bulletin boards.
(14) Signs denoting the architect, engineer, or contractor working upon a work site and real estate signs pertaining to the sale, development, or rental of the property. Such signs shall be removed within 10 days after completion of construction or the sale, lease, or development of 90% of the property. No more than 2 such signs will be allowed at 1 time. The total area of all such signs on a property shall not exceed 48 square feet.
(15) Government signs in all districts.
(16) Signs that are not visible beyond the boundaries of the lot or parcel upon which they are located.
(17) Security signs.
(18) Signs required by law.
(19) Signs which are integrally attached to or part of:
(a) Waste roll-offs, dumpsters, garbage cans, vending or dispensing machines, portable storage units, or other similar equipment owned and maintained by a commercial business for the purpose of waste collection or temporary storage;
(b) Personal property or motor vehicles such as, but not limited to, passenger vehicles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, trucks, semi-tractors and trailers, recreational vehicles, fish houses, boats, boat lifts, and trailers; and
(c) Construction materials or equipment.
(20) Any sign attached to, or placed on, a vehicle or trailer parked on public or private property, except for signs meeting the following conditions:
(a) The primary purpose of such vehicle or trailer is not the display of signs;
(b) The signs are magnetic, decals, or painted upon an integral part of the vehicle or equipment as originally designed by the manufacturer, and do not break the silhouette of the vehicle; and
(c) The vehicle or trailer is in operating condition, currently registered and licensed to operate on public streets when applicable, and actively used in the daily function of the business to which such signs relate.
(21) Decorative display and/or elements.
(B) No exempt sign may be illuminated, except for the following:
(1) Uplighting of official federal, state, county, or city flags; and
(2) Lighting of official federal, state, county, or city government signs as need by the government body.
(Ord. 2018-10-3, passed 10-9-2018)