(a) (1) No person shall erect, construct, alter or maintain a sign on public property in the City of University Heights without first obtaining the permission of the Safety Director, unless such sign is otherwise required or permitted by law or ordinance including, but not limited to, signs regulating traffic or parking, or for identification.
(2) No person shall erect, construct or alter a sign, excluding political signs, in any U-3, U-5, U-6, U-7, U-8 or U-9 District or for a nonresidential use in a U-1, U-2 or U-4 District, in the City without first obtaining a permit from the Division of Building Engineering and Inspection.
(b) Content and consistency of signs shall be regulated as follows:
(1) Content may include:
A. Identifying the name of the owner or operator or lessee, or the authorized representative;
B. Advertising goods sold and/or services available on the premises or advertising availability of the site for land or building development or rental; (See Section 1270.01(d)(1).)
C. The address of the premises; and
D. The telephone number and/or fax number at the premises.
(2) Consistency. Wherever a site is under one ownership or operated as a unit with a single roof and/or parking in common, signs shall be relatively consistent and uniform in appearance and location (either on the building or on awning but not both), size, type and style of lettering, color and architectural scale.
(3) Signs shall be maintained in good condition at all times.
(c) All sign permit applications shall be accompanied by two black and white sketches and one true color sketch of the proposed sign or equivalent, dimensionally proportional and specifying the dimensions, the layout, design and colors of the letter, logo, if any, background and lines of the sign together with a completed application form, as required by the Building Commissioner, approved by the Law Department, reflecting:
(1) Boundaries of the lot where the sign will be located showing the centerline of any street on which the lot fronts;
(2) Location of the building on the lot including applicable setback and side yard requirements and the setback of any building from such centerline;
(3) The lineal frontage of the building or structure;
(4) A statement indicating the absence of any sign on the premises, or
A. Identify each sign on the premises that will remain including the dimensions and square footage of each.
B. Photograph of the front and side elevations of the building, structure or premises showing any existing signs, and an elevation sketch showing the proposed sign on it.
(5) For a free standing wall sign or ground sign, the applicant shall provide a site plan, elevations and the proposed location of the sign with complete dimensions.
(d) The Building Commissioner may waive or require further information to the extent appropriate and reasonably necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(e) Said application shall be subject to review, recommendations and/or findings as follows:
(1) The Chief of Police with respect to any potential safety hazard;
(2) The Building Commissioner may forward any sign application to the Architectural Review Board when he or she determines that the design, shape, size, location or other feature of the sign requires review. The Building Commissioner may require any sign to be considered by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(f) Within a reasonable time after submission of a properly completed application, the Building Commissioner shall determine whether said application conforms to the provisions of this chapter and shall approve or disapprove the application.
(g) Any rejection or disapproval may be appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals as provided in Sections 1244.01 et. seq.
(Ord. 2002-24. Passed 8-12-2002; Ord. 2006-48. Passed 9-18-2006; Ord. 2011-04. Passed 2-7-2011.)