A. Purposes.
1. Variances. The Planning Commission may grant variances for setbacks, locational and dimensional standards that apply to signs in order to prevent unnecessary hardships that would result from a strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of certain regulations prescribed by this chapter. A practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship may result from the size, shape or dimensions of a site or the location of existing structures thereon, from geographic, topographic or other physical conditions on the site or in the immediate vicinity, or from street locations or traffic conditions in the immediate vicinity that would affect the signing of a site or building.
2. Exception. The Planning Commission may grant an exception to the physical design standards if it can be demonstrated that such an exception is necessary to facilitate an improved aesthetic relationship between a sign and the structures upon which it is mounted.
B. Application Procedures. Application for a sign variance or sign exception shall be submitted to the City Planner on an approved form and include the following:
1. Name and address of the applicant;
2. Statement that the applicant is the owner of the property, is the authorized agent of the owner(s), or is or will be the plaintiff in an action in eminent domain to acquire the property involved;
3. Address and legal description of the property;
4. Statement of the precise nature of the variance or exception requested and the hardship or practical difficulty which would result from the strict interpretation and enforcement of the standards in this Chapter;
5. The application shall be accompanied by such sketches or drawings as may be necessary to clearly show applicant's proposal in comparison with the standards that otherwise would apply; and
6. The required fee or deposit.
The application shall be reviewed by the City Planner, who shall determine whether it is complete or, if not, what additional information is needed. Once the application is determined to be complete, the City Planner shall give notice to the applicant of the time when the application will be considered by the Planning Commission. The City Planning also may give notice of the time to any other interested party.
C. Public Notice and Hearing.
1. Notice of a public hearing on a sign variance or sign exception shall be given not less than ten days nor more than 30 days prior to the date of the hearing by mailing a notice of the time and place of the hearing to property owners within three hundred (300) feet of the boundaries of the area occupied or to be occupied by the use which is the subject of the hearing.
2. After the required notice has been provided, the Planning Commission shall hold a public hearing on an application for a variance.
D. Staff Report. The City Planner shall prepare a staff report on the application, including a recommendation, which shall be submitted to the Planning Commission.
E. Public Hearing Procedure. At a public hearing the Planning Commission shall review the application and the statements and drawings submitted by the applicant and the staff report and the evidence presented in that report with respect to the findings listed below, that are required to approve a variance or exception.
F. Findings Required for a Variance.
1. The Planning Commission may grant a variance to a regulation or standard prescribed by this Chapter, as applied for or as modified by the Commission, provided that, on the basis of the application and staff report and/or evidence submitted, the Commission determines:
a. That strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of the specified regulation would result in practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship inconsistent with the purposes of the sign regulations;
b. That there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions applicable to the property which do not apply generally to other properties classified in the same zoning district;
c. That strict or literal interpretation and enforcement of the specified regulation would deprive the applicant of privileges enjoyed by the owners of other properties classified in the same zoning district;
d. That the granting of the variance will not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitations on other properties classified in the same zoning district; and
e. That the granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare, or materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity.
2. A variance may be revocable, may be granted for a limited time period, or may be granted subject to such reasonable conditions as the Commission may prescribe.
3. The Planning Commission must deny a variance application if the required findings cannot be made.
G. Findings Required for an Exception. The Planning Commission may approve, conditionally approve or deny a request for an exception to the physical design standards of this chapter. For the Planning Commission to approve or conditionally approve an exception, the following findings must be made:
1. That the granting of the exception is necessary to attain a high aesthetic sign design which would be restricted if the provisions and standards of this Chapter were strictly applied;
2. That the granting of an exception would not adversely affect the visibility of signs on adjacent properties; and
3. That the granting of an exception would not constitute a granting of a special privilege.
H. Appeal to City Council. The decision of the Planning Commission on a variance or exception application shall be subject to the appeal provisions of the zoning ordinance.
I. Revocation. A variance or exception granted subject to a condition or conditions shall be revoked by the Planning Commission if the applicant fails to comply with any the condition of approval.
J. Time Limits for Filing a New Application. Following the denial of a variance or exception application or the revocation of a variance or exception, no application for the same or substantially the same sign shall be filed within one year of the date of denial of the variance or exception application or the date of revocation of the variance or exception. (Ord. 2017-01 (part), 2017: Ord. 2016-11 § 2 (part), 2016)