(a) Construction. Every sign and all parts, portions, units, and materials comprising the same, together with the frame, background, supports, or anchorage therefor, shall be manufactured, fabricated, assembled, constructed, and erected in compliance with all applicable State, Federal, and City laws and regulations.
(b) Maintenance. Every sign and all parts, portions, units, and materials comprising the same, together with the frame, background, supports, or anchorage therefor, shall be maintained in proper repair and a proper state of preservation. The display surface of all signs shall be kept neatly painted and/or posted.
(c) Notices to maintain, alter, or repair. Upon a written notice from the Building Official or Community Development Department, the necessary maintenance, alterations, or repairs shall be made within ten (10) days after the date of such notice.
(d) Removal. Signs pertaining to enterprises or occupants which are no longer using the premises to which the sign relates shall be painted out, obliterated, or removed from the premises within thirty (30) days after the associated enterprise or occupant has vacated the premises. Permitted temporary signs, such as political or construction signs, shall be displayed no sooner than forty-five (45) days before, and removed no later than seven (7) days after, the occurrence or completion of the event or election or other purpose serviced by the sign.
(e) Public nuisances: Abatement. Any sign violating the provisions of this section shall constitute a public nuisance and shall be subject to abatement pursuant to the provisions of this section. The Community Development Director, upon a determination that a sign is in violation of this article, shall give notice to the candidate, property owner, sign owner, or, when a ballot proposition is involved, the person or group advocating the vote described on the sign to remove the offending sign. After reasonable opportunity has been given to remove the sign or remedy the violation, the Community Development Director may cause the sign to be removed, and the cost of removal shall be billed to the sign’s owner, the property owner, or other responsible party, which, in the case of political signs, shall be the candidate for which the sign is displayed or the group advocating the position on the ballot proposition which the sign supports. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Community Development Director may cause any sign which is an immediate peril to persons or property to be removed summarily and without prior notice. If a sign is summarily removed pursuant to this section, the Community Development Director shall give notice of the removal to the appropriate parties as soon as it is reasonably possible after the removal.
(f) Unauthorized removal of political signs. No person shall remove, destroy, relocate, or otherwise disturb any political sign without the permission of the party who erected the sign. It shall be presumed, as to signs for political candidates, that the political candidate or his or her representative is the party who erected the sign. It shall further be assumed that the committee who has registered with the Secretary of the State to support a position on a ballot proposition is the party who erected the sign taking the position on a ballot measure. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the owner of a piece of property, or his or her authorized representative, from removing a sign from his or her property when the political sign has been erected without his or her consent; and provided, further, nothing in this subsection shall prevent the Community Development Director or his authorized representatives from taking action to abate sign violations pertaining to political signs pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.
(§ I, Ord. 248-NS, eff. January 6, 1972, as amended by § I, Ord. 359-NS, eff. April 12, 1973, § 1, Ord. 741-NS, eff. April 3, 1980, and § I, Ord. 810-NS, eff. June 24, 1982)