The following signs are allowed without a sign permit, and are not required to be included in the determinations of the allowable number, type, or area of signs pursuant to this Sign Code, but these signs are not exempt from building permit approval if an electrical or building permit is required by the Building Code:
(a) Governmental Signs. The following signs may be erected or constructed without a permit, but may be subject to additional regulations under this section. Where a sign is erected pursuant to a state statute or a court order, the sign may exceed the size standards of this chapter or otherwise deviate from the standards set forth in this chapter to the extent that the statute or court order expressly requires the larger size or other deviation. In all other respects, such signs shall conform to the standards of this chapter:
(1) Signs conforming to the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and bearing no commercial message;
(2) Signs installed by employees or officials of a state or federal agency in the course of their governmental duties and bearing no commercial message;
(3) Signs required by a state or federal statue;
(4) Signs required by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction;
(5) Signs installed by public utilities in their rights-of-way or on their facilities and bearing no commercial message other than such message is necessary to identify the use; and
(6) Signs installed by a transit company with a franchise or other right to operate in the City of Troy, Ohio, where such signs are installed along its routes and relate to schedules or other information about the transit route.
(b) Free Speech Messages. Any message that does not convey a commercial message as defined.
(c) Official Flags. Official flags of the United States, the State, the Municipality, foreign nations having diplomatic relations with the United States, and any other flag adopted or sanctioned by an elected legislative body of competent jurisdiction, provided that such flag shall not exceed one hundred (100) square feet in area and shall not be flown from a pole the top of which is more than fifty (50) feet in height. These flags must be flown in accordance with protocol established by federal law. Any flag not meeting any one (1) or more of these conditions shall be considered a banner sign and shall be subject to regulation as such.
(d) Non-Commercial Flags. All non-commercial flags without messages.
(e) Monuments, Cornerstones, and Historical Markers. Cornerstones, headstones, and commemorative plaques or historical markers placed by recognized historical agencies.
(f) Decorations. Temporary displays of a patriotic, religious, charitable, or civic character with no commercial message, including holiday lights and decorations that are erected for customary periods of time.
(g) Works of Art. Works of art that do not include a commercial message, logo, or trademark and do not contain any property identification message.
(Ord. 7-2009. Passed 2-2-09.)
(h) Incidental Sign. Such signs shall have an aggregate area not to exceed two and one-half (2 ½) square feet at each entrance and shall be attached to a permanent structure. (Ord. 4-2012. Passed 3-5-12.)
(i) Window Signs. Temporary window signs constructed of paper, cloth, or similar expendable material, including signs incorporated in a display of merchandise, a display relating to services offered, which are located inside a structure. Signs painted on or otherwise permanently affixed to a window or made of metal, wood, plastic, neon, or other permanent material and positioned in a window are subject to the provisions of this Sign Code. No combination of temporary and permanent window signs shall cover more than fifty percent (50%) of any window panel, except in the Historic Preservation Overlay Zoning District where such signs shall cover no more than twenty-five percent (25%) of any window panel, per this section.
(j) Internal Signs. Signs not intended to be viewed from outside the property, and located so as not to be legible from any public right-of-way or from any adjacent property, including any signs in interior areas of shopping centers, commercial buildings and structures, stadiums, and similar structures of a recreational nature. Also exempt are signs inside a building more than three (3) feet inside any window or door and signs not attached to a window or door that are not legible from a distance of more than five (5) feet beyond the lot line of the zoning lot or parcel on which such signs are located.
(Ord. 7-2009. Passed 2-2-09.)