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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.)
(a) Purpose. It is not the intent of the City of Troy, Ohio to infringe on the rights of property owners and occupiers to display messages protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Therefore, the purpose of these regulations include the intention to clarify the regulations and to remove any doubt that is the public's right to receive and display free speech messages, subject however, to reasonable regulations to assure safety and minimize visual blight.
(b) Definition. "Free Speech Message" shall mean any message that does not convey a commercial message. "Commercial Message" shall mean any sign, wording, logo, or other representation that, directly or indirectly, names, advertises or calls attention to a business, product, service or other commercial activity.
(c) Conflict with Existing Provisions. In furtherance of the purpose of this section, if there is any conflict between the provisions of this section and with any other section of the Sign Code, including those provisions regulating signs, and such conflict could be construed to infringe on free speech messages, the provisions of this section shall control.
(d) First Amendment Safeguards. In order to safeguard the protections offered by the First Amendment, the following regulations shall apply:
(1) Every parcel in all zoning districts shall be permitted to display five (5) two-sided or five (5) one-sided temporary signs containing any free speech message,
(2) Each side of the sign (sign face) shall not exceed the maximum square footage of any sign displaying a commercial or non-commercial message within the zoning district where the free speech message sign is displayed,
(3) The maximum height limitation shall be four (4) feet above finished grade level,
(4) Such signs shall be set back at least six (6) feet from any right-of-way line and at least five (5) feet from all other property lines,
(5) In no event shall such sign be erected in the right-of-way.
(6) Such sign shall not be subject to the permitting requirements of the Sign Codes, and
(7) Such sign must be kept in good and safe condition.
(e) Because of the nature of materials typically used to construct public issue signs, to avoid the unsightliness of deteriorating signs and all safety concerns which accompany such a condition, signs permitted by this section shall be maintained in good and safe condition. If a sign permitted in this section is not maintained in good and safe condition, notice shall be sent to the property owner by regular mail. The property owner shall have seven (7) days from the date of mailing indicated on the notice to restore the sign to good and safe condition. If the sign is not restored to good and safe condition within seven (7) days, and the owner or occupant of the property has not filed an appeal from the notice, then the owner and/or occupant shall be in violation of this section and subject to Section 749.17(b). In addition, no sign permitted by this section shall be placed in the right-of-way. Such signs in the right-of-way may be removed by the City without notice.
(f) Signs authorized by this section may be erected and displayed without obtaining a Zoning Certificate or a Building Permit.
(g) Signs authorized by this section may be displayed in vacant lots so long as consent of the property owner to display the sign is obtained.
(h) Signs authorized by this section may not be separately illuminated.
(i) Every parcel that is permitted to display a sign containing a commercial message or other permitted message pursuant to this Sign Code shall be permitted to display a free speech message in lieu of the permitted commercial message on the sign authorized for a commercial message. However, this provision shall not apply to:
(1) Signs installed by employees or officials of a governmental agency in the course of their governmental duties and bearing no commercial message;
(2) Signs required by a state or federal statute;
(3) Signs required by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction;
(4) 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
(5) 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.
(j) Whether a sign displays a commercial message or a free speech message, each sign shall still be subject to the dimensional regulations imposed in each zoning district, including but not limited to, size, height, area and setback in the same manner as if it were displaying a commercial message. Signs with the free speech message displayed in lieu of a commercial message shall be permitted in addition to signs displaying the free speech message permitted by this section.
(k) No sign except those authorized and conforming to the Ohio Uniform Code of Traffic Control Devices shall be permitted in any public right-of-way. Any sign unlawfully installed in a public right-of-way shall be deemed abandoned and may be removed by the City.
(Ord. 7-2009. Passed 2-2-09.)
(a) Computation of Area of Individual Signs. The area of a sign shall be computed by means of the smallest square, circle, rectangle, triangle, or geometric combination thereof that will encompass the extreme limits of the writing, representation, emblem, and/or other display, together with any material or color forming an integral part of the background of the display or used to differentiate the sign from the backdrop or structure against which it is placed.
(1) Panels. The area of the surface, or surfaces, of an opaque or translucent panel used or intended for displaying a message.
(2) Irregular Shapes. For a sign comprised of irregularly shaped elements, the area of such sign shall be computed as a combination of not more than four (4) rectangles which form or approximate the perimeter of all the elements in the display.
(3) Combining Individual Elements. For a sign comprised of individual letters, figures, or elements on a wall or similar surface, the area of such sign shall be calculated by determining the geometric form or combination of forms which comprise all the display area, including the space between the elements.
(4) Window or Door Panels. The area of the surface of any opaque panel used or intended for displaying a permanent message that is affixed to windows or doors.
(b) Structural Support Not Included In Sign Area. The supporting structure or bracing of a sign shall not be computed as part of the sign area, unless such supporting structure or bracing is made a part of the sign's message by including a symbol, logo, or other three- dimensional figure. If such is the case, a combination of regular geometric shapes which can encompass the area of said symbol or figure shall be included as part of the total sign area computation.
(c) Computation of Area of Multi-faced Signs. The sign area for a sign with more than one (1) face shall be computed by adding together the area of all sign faces.
(d) Computation of Height of Freestanding Sign. The height of a freestanding sign shall be computed as follows:
(1) Sign Without Mounding. The height of a freestanding sign shall be calculated by measuring the vertical distance between the top part of such sign or its structure, whichever is highest, to the elevation of the ground directly beneath the center of the sign. The elevation of the ground directly beneath the center of the sign shall be construed to be the lower of the existing grade prior to construction or the newly established grade after construction, exclusive of any filling, berming, mounding, or excavating solely for the purpose of locating the sign.
(2) Sign With Mounding. In cases in which the newly established grade within the required front yard consists of man-made berms, hills, or other similar ground formations with sides steeper than one (l) foot rise to four (4) foot horizontal, the Zoning Administrator shall utilize the elevation of the street curb nearest to the location of the sign for determining sign height. If no street curb exists, the elevation of the edge of pavement nearest the sign location shall be used.
(e) Computation of Height of Building Signs. The height of an awning, canopy, projecting, wall, or window sign shall be determined by measuring the vertical distance between the top part of a sign panel or individual letter or characters, whichever is highest, to the elevation of the ground underneath such sign.
(f) Structural Support Included In Sign Height. Any material whose major function is to provide structural support for a sign shall be considered part of the sign for purposes of determining sign height. (Ord. 7-2009. Passed 2-2-09.)
The following types of signs are prohibited in all sign districts:
(a) Signs obstructing free and clear vision.
(b) Signs imitating or resembling official traffic or governmental signs or signals, unless otherwise approved by the City Engineer.
(c) Signs imitating or resembling emergency lights.
(d) Portable changeable copy signs.
(e) Signs placed on or over any public right-of-way or on public lands, including, but not limited to, signs placed in curb lawns or public parks, or signs attached to trees, utility poles, public benches or street lights, unless expressly permitted by this section or by written permission of the Director of Public Service and Safety or designee.
(f) Signs utilizing "Day-Glo", "fluorescent" or "neon" colors.
(g) Vehicle signs.
(h) Aerial signs.
(i) Any functional or structural sign type or classification, which is not clearly identified, defined and permitted by this chapter.
(j) Obsolete signs.
(Ord. 7-2009. Passed 2-2-09.)
(a) The "Industrial Sign Districts" include all parcels within areas which are currently or subsequently zoned to allow industrial land uses.
(b) The "Commercial Sign Districts" include all parcels within areas which are currently or subsequently zoned for retail or wholesale commerce in goods or services as the most intensive use.
(c) The "Historic Sign Districts" include all parcels within areas which are currently or subsequently within an historic district overlay zone.
(d) The "Residential Sign Districts" include all parcels within areas which are currently or subsequently zoned to allow residential habitation as the most intensive use.
(Ord. 7-2009. Passed 2-2-09.)
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