(A) Regulations for Neighborhood Commercial District (NC), Limited Commercial Overlay District (LC):
(1) General provisions.
(a) A maximum of two types and three total signs (exclusive of traffic directing signs) are allowed on any principal building or property housing no more than two business tenants on any one lot.
(b) Buildings housing more than two tenants, shopping centers, shopping malls, office centers, and the like are permitted one freestanding, projecting, or wall sign per lot for the purpose of listing multiple business tenants. An area of five square feet of sign area per side of sign for each tenant listed not to exceed a total of 100 square feet of aggregate sign area on the property is permitted. In addition, each separate business may have one wall type sign conforming to the requirements set forth for wall signs in the Neighborhood Commercial District (NC).
(c) Advertising vehicles or any other accessory structures or uses supporting advertising are prohibited.
(d) No sign shall cover architectural details such as, but not limited to, arches, sills, mouldings, cornices, and transom windows.
(e) No sign shall remain illuminated between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. unless the associated use is operating during those hours.
(f) Internally illuminated plastic/acrylic/vinyl/fiberglass or any similar material signs are prohibited.
(g) Trademarks, nationally-recognized logos and the like may occupy a maximum of 20% of any sign.
(h) All signs must be erected on private property, and may not encroach on public rights- of-way.
(2) Requirements by type of sign.
(a) Freestanding. Whenever the front of a building is ten feet or more from the sidewalk or public right-of-way, one freestanding sign per property may be displayed, provided that:
1. The maximum area for each side of the sign does not exceed 15 square feet;
2. The maximum height of the sign including mountings or supports does not exceed six feet;
3. The horizontal dimension of the sign does not exceed seven feet;
4. Such sign is of permanent construction and it shall be constructed according to the provisions of the Building Code;
5. Such sign, if lighted, be illuminated externally so that the outside face of the sign is uniformly flooded with light from fixed sources directed at the sign face so as to provide uniform distribution of light over the entire sign face without distracting glare or spill light outside the sign face; and
6. Electronic message center signs are permitted as specified in § 153.251(H).
(b) Projecting signs. Projecting signs are permitted provided that:
1. The overall size of such sign does not exceed 12 square feet per face;
2. The sign does not project more than three feet from the building and does not encroach on a public right-of-way;
3. The minimum clearance of the sign shall be at least eight feet above the existing grade;
4. If two or more businesses inhabit a single building and elect to use projecting signs, the aggregate total size of all such signs on the property shall not exceed 30 square feet with a limit of two sides per sign; and
5. No sign is within six feet of any alley.
(c) Wall signs. Wall signs are permitted provided that:
1. The depth of such sign shall not project from a building surface more than 12 inches;
2. Such sign shall not extend beyond the building roof or side;
3. The total sign area cannot exceed one square foot of sign area for each lineal foot of building face parallel to the street, or 10% of the wall area or 25 square feet, whichever is less;
4. A single property may have two or more wall signs but the total square footage of all wall signs on the property shall not exceed the total allowable sign area;
5. Canopies and/or awnings that are lettered will count as wall signs and shall have a minimum height of eight feet above the existing grade. The total area of the lettered portion of the canopy or awning shall conform to division (A)(2)(c)3. above; and
6. In the case of a building which fronts on two or more streets, a sign may appear on each wall facing a street. The total sign area of all signs on the property shall be no greater than that allowable by front foot computation of the larger wall.
(d) Window signs. Window signs are permitted provided that:
1. Permanent window signs are limited to 25% coverage of the window they are posted in or painted on; and
2. Such sign may be illuminated, except such sign shall not be illuminated in a designated Historic District.
(B) Regulations for General Commercial (GC), Suburban Office (SO) and Planned Commercial District (PCD).
(1) General provisions.
(a) A maximum of two types and three total signs (exclusive of traffic directing signs) are permitted per principal building or property housing not more than two business tenants on any one lot.
(b) Buildings housing more than two tenants, shopping centers, shopping malls, office centers, and the like are permitted one freestanding, projecting, or wall sign per lot for the purpose of listing multiple business tenants. An area of ten square feet of sign area per side of sign for each tenant listed not to exceed a total of 200 square feet of aggregate sign area on the property is permitted. In addition, each separate business may have one wall type sign conforming to the requirements set forth for wall signs in the General Commercial, Suburban Office, and Planned Commercial districts.
(c) Advertising vehicles or any other accessory structures or uses supporting advertising are prohibited.
(d) No sign shall remain illuminated between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. unless:
1. The associated use is operating during those hours; or
2. The principal building or property is located on a state or federal highway.
(e) Internally illuminated plastic/acrylic/vinyl signs are permitted only if they are of a custom design.
(f) Trademarks and nationally-recognized logos may occupy a maximum of 20% of any sign.
(g) All signs must be erected on private property and may not encroach on public rights-of- way.
(2) Requirements by type of sign.
(a) Freestanding. One freestanding sign per property may be displayed, provided that:
1. The maximum area for each side of the sign located at least ten feet from the right- of-way line facing a public street does not exceed one and one-half feet for each linear foot of building frontage and the sign height does not exceed eight feet;
2. The maximum area for each side of the sign located between ten feet and 20 feet of the right-of-way line facing a public street does not exceed one and one-half feet for each linear foot of building frontage and the sign height does not exceed 12 feet;
3. The maximum area for each side of the sign located more than 20 feet from the right-of-way line facing a public street does not exceed one and one-half feet for each linear foot of building frontage and the sign height does not exceed 16 feet;
4. Such sign, if lighted, be either:
a. Illuminated externally so that the outside face of the sign is uniformly flooded with light from fixed sources directed at the sign face so as to provide uniform distribution of light over the entire sign face without distracting glare or spill light outside the sign face; or
b. Illuminated internally by indirect lighting where the light is produced by illuminating incandescent or fluorescent tubes behind a translucent sign background upon which the sign message has been displayed.
5. Electronic message center signs are permitted as specified in § 153.251(H).
(b) Projecting signs. Projecting signs are permitted provided that:
1. The overall size of such sign does not exceed 20 square feet per side with a limit of two sides;
2. If two or more businesses inhabit a single building and elect to use projecting signs, the aggregate size of all such signs on the property shall not exceed 30 square feet per side with a limit of two sides; and
3. No sign is within six feet of any alley.
(c) Wall signs. Wall signs are permitted provided that:
1. The sign does not project from a building surface more than 12 inches;
2. Such sign shall not extend beyond the building roof or side;
3. The total sign area cannot exceed one square foot of sign area per linear foot of building face parallel to the street, or 10% of the wall area or 25 square feet, whichever is less;
4. A single property may have two or more wall signs but the total square footage of all wall signs on the property shall not exceed the total allowable sign area;
5. Canopies and/or awnings which are lettered count as wall signs and shall have a minimum height of eight feet above the existing grade. The total area of the lettered portion of the canopy or awning shall conform to division (B)(2)(c)3. above;
6. In the case of a building which fronts on two or more streets, a sign may appear on each wall facing a street. The total sign area of these signs shall be no greater than that allowable by front foot computation of the larger wall; and
7. Such sign, if lighted, be either:
a. Illuminated externally so that the outside face of the sign is uniformly flooded with light from fixed sources directed at the sign face so as to provide uniform distribution of light over the entire sign face without distracting glare or spill light outside the sign face; or
b. Illuminated internally by indirect lighting where the light is produced by illuminating incandescent or fluorescent tubes behind a translucent sign background upon which the sign message has been displayed.
(d) Window signs. Window signs are permitted provided that:
1. Permanent window signs are limited to 25% coverage of the window they are posted in or painted on; and
2. Such sign shall not be illuminated.
(e) Gasoline (service) station price signs. Gasoline (service) station price signs are permitted provided that:
1. The sign displayed is no larger than six square feet per side and there are no more than two such sides;
2. The sign displayed meets all other applicable standards contained in this chapter, except that if a price sign is mounted on the same standard as another freestanding sign, the total display area for the aggregate of all signs thus mounted on such standard shall not exceed 20 square feet on each of two sides; nor shall any part of the allowance for a price sign be added to the allowance for an identification sign in order to create a larger sign; and
3. Such price sign may be a change-panel sign.
(Ord. 96-152, passed 10-7-1996; Ord. 2013-031, passed 7-15-2013)