The person erecting, altering or relocating a sign shall notify the Administrator upon completion of the work for which permits are required.
(A) Inspections. All freestanding signs shall be subject to a footing inspection, prior to erection, and all signs to a final electrical inspection by the Administrator.
(B) Maintenance.
(1) 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.
(2) All signs, including those exempted, shall be kept neatly painted, including all metal parts and supports by which these conditions are deteriorating.
(3) An inspection can be applied in two alternative methods:
(a) The Administrator can request that a licensed sign company 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 code or the laws or regulations of the city; or
(b) 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.
(C) Signs declared unlawful.
(1) The Administrator may declare any sign unlawful if it endangers public safety by reasons of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation or abandonment. Any declaration shall state the reasons of the Administrator for stating that the sign constitutes a safety hazard to the general public.
(2) 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 code, is hereby declared to be in violation of this code. The Administrator may declare any sign to be unlawful, and the declaration shall state in writing the reason or reasons why the sign and the keeping, owning, maintenance, construction and display or operation thereof, is unlawful under the terms of this code, the declaration shall be sent to the owner and shall include notification that unless the violation is corrected within 30 days, the sign shall be removed at the owner’s expense.
(Title VII, Ch. 17, § 6.7) Penalty, see § 158.999