(a) Wherever a commercial sign is allowed or permitted under this Chapter, an owner may place a non-commercial sign, subject to the time, place and manner provisions of this Chapter, without applying for a permit and/or paying a fee that otherwise would be required for the placement of a commercial sign on the lot.
(b) The owner of any sign which is otherwise allowed by this Chapter may substitute non-commercial copy in lieu of any other commercial or non-commercial copy. This substitution of copy may be made without any additional approval or permitting. The purpose of this provision is to prevent any inadvertent favoring of commercial speech over non-commercial speech, or favoring of any particular non-commercial message over any other non-commercial message. This provision prevails over any more specific provision to the contrary.
(c) Message substitution under this section does not:
(1) Create a right to increase the total amount of signage on a parcel, lot or land use;
(2) Affect the requirement that a sign structure or mounting device be allowed or permitted under this Chapter;
(3) Allow a change in the physical structure of a sign or its mounting device; or,
(4) Authorize the substitution of an off-premises commercial message in place of an on-premises commercial message or in place of a non-commercial message.
(Ord. 1559. Passed 4-22-13.)