The person erecting, altering, or relocating a sign shall notify the Administrator on completion of the work for which permits are required.
(A) Inspections. All free-standing signs shall be subject to a footing inspection and all signs to a final electrical inspection by the Administrator.
(B) Sign permit renewal and certification.
(1) All signs erected shall be inspected every two years to determine that the sign has been maintained in such a manner as to ensure that the sign is in a safely maintained condition as to the electrical, structural, and material specifications of this chapter, and shall be tagged to so signify.
(2) Any sign for which the two-year inspection permit has not been secured and the sign duly tagged with date of the appropriate month shall be removed at the owner's expense after 30 days from written notification. The written notification shall come from the Administrator.
(3) Fees for the two-year inspection permit shall be one-half of the original application fee.
(4) All signs shall bear a two by four inch label provided by the Administrator which identifies the permit number under which the sign was constructed. These labels shall be different color for alternate years and shall indicate month and year of issue in one-inch letters.
(5) The biannual tag for the certification that the sign is in a safe condition as to its material, electrical and structural application shall be issued in two alternative methods, a licensed sign company shall duly certify and file with the city that the sign meets as nearly as possible all of the structural, electrical, and material specifications set out in this chapter or the laws or regulations of the city, or alternatively, the city shall send out an inspector and the inspector shall verify that the sign is in a safe condition with respect to its physical characteristics. The Administrator shall charge a rate of $10 an hour for such inspection of signs. The minimum fee shall be $10.
(C) Maintenance. Every sign in the city, including but not limited to those signs for which permits or for which no permits or permit fees are required, shall be maintained in good structural condition at all times. All signs, including those exempted, shall be kept neatly painted, including all metal parts and supports by which these conditions are deteriorating. The Administrator shall inspect and have the authority to order the painting, repair, alteration, or removal of signs which become dilapidated or are abandoned, or which constitute physical hazard to the public safety.
(D) Signs declared unlawful. The Administrator may declare any sign unlawful if it endangers public safety by reasons of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, or abandonment. Any such declaration shall state the reasons of the Administrator for stating that the sign constitutes a safety hazard to the general public. Any sign owned, kept, displayed, or maintained by any person within the city, the ownership keeping a display which is unlawful pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, is declared to be in violation of this chapter. The Administrator may declare any such sign to be unlawful, and such declaration shall state in writing the reason or reasons why such sign and the keeping, owning, maintenance, construction, and display or operation thereof, is unlawful under the terms of this chapter.
(Ord. 81-0-8, passed 4-21-81) Penalty, see § 157.999