The following signs may be erected without a permit:
(a) Address and name of occupant of premises for a residential structure, not include designations as to employment or home occupation and to be limited in size to two square feet.
(b) Signs required or authorized for a public purpose by any law, statute or ordinance, such signs to include traffic control devices provided that such signs contain no supplementary advertising.
(c) On site directional signs indicating points of entry or exit for a facility or off-street parking area, provided such signs are limited to a maximum of two square feet in area and three feet in height and do not interfere with safe vehicular or pedestrian traffic circulation and are not located within the clear sight distance triangle. No more than two such signs are allowed per vehicular access point. Such signs may contain information such as “in”, “enter”, “entrance”, “out”, “exit”, “do not enter” or similar language as approved by the Planning Administrator or his designee or arrows indicating desired traffic movement. Such signs may contain no advertising, including logos and must be of a rectangular shape. Such signs must be on the property to which they refer and may not be placed within a public right-of-way. Private Traffic and on site Directional Signs are excluded from total sign count.
(d) Signs, in all districts except for the Uptown District, which are in the nature of cornerstones, commemorative tables and historical signs, provided that such signs are less than nine square feet in size and not illuminated.
(e) Signs clearly in the nature of decorations customarily associated with any national, local or religious holiday, to be limited to 60 days in any one year and to be displayed not more than 60 consecutive days. Such signs must meet the sign area limitations of the applicable zoning district. Such signs may be illuminated or animated provided that safety and visibility hazards are not created.
(f) Political signs or posters concerning candidates for elective office, public issues and similar matters to be decided by public election. Such signs shall not exceed six square feet in area, shall not be illuminated, and shall not create a safety or visibility hazard, nor be affixed to any public utility pole or tree or be located within a public right-of-way. This section is not applicable to political campaign headquarters signs which shall require a temporary sign permit pursuant to Section 1181.08.
(g) Signs that indicate the sale, rental or lease of a particular one or two family residential structure or one or two family residential land area, to be limited in size to six square feet, with one sign allowed per street front. Such signs shall not be located in a public right-of-way, and shall not be illuminated. Signs advertising a one or two family residential structure or land area must be removed within 14 days after the sale, rental, or lease has occurred.
(h) Informational window signs that are limited in size to two square ft. per sign.
(i) Signs, in all districts except for the Uptown District, which are less than two square feet in size and mounted or attached flat or parallel onto a building face of an administrative, business or professional office building which denotes the name and address of an occupant in a building where more than one tenant is located and which has individual and separate entries.
(j) A sign which advertises the sale of personal property such as a garage, yard, porch or moving sale sign provided that it is limited to one sign, not greater than four square feet in size and which sign is located on the sale premises for a time period not greater than two consecutive days. Such signs shall not be located in a public right-of-way.
(k) Construction signs which display the identification of the contractors, architects and other construction principals and temporary development signs which shall include signs indicating or promoting the development of land, facilities, or structures. Construction and/or development signs shall not be illuminated. No more than one such sign shall be permitted per street frontage and such signs shall be installed on the property to which they refer. For sites having at least 100 feet of frontage on each of two public rights-of-way, a second sign may be permitted facing the second right-of-way if both signs comply with Code requirements. The two signs shall be no closer than 75 feet. The distance shall be measured by drawing two straight lines from the edge of each sign, forming a 90 degree angle. Such signs shall be limited to 32 square feet and 8 feet in height. They shall be placed at least 10 feet from any public right-of-way. In residential subdivisions, development signs must be removed when 75% of the lots in the first subdivision phase have received any certificate of occupancy or the permanent subdivision sign has been erected. For other than single family residential development, development signs must be removed when more than 50% of the space is rented, sold or leased. For construction signs in developed residential neighborhoods, such sign shall conform to the size requirements of the zoning district in which they are located and must be removed upon completion of construction or the commencement of occupancy, whichever event occurs first.
(l) Signs for community events and programs which last for a time period of 14 days or less and which are sponsored by nonprofit, public, educational, religious and charitable organizations. Four signs may be displayed during the event for a period of 14 days immediately preceding the commencement of the event. One sign may be located at the site of the event provided it does not exceed 24 square feet in size. All off-site signs shall not exceed 24 square feet in size and must be located on private property with the permission of the property owner. Each sign shall be placed at a different site and shall be removed not later than 48 hours after the scheduled activity. If the program or event is for a continuing period of time in excess of 14 days, only one sign, not larger than ten square feet, is permitted and such sign must be located either at the site of the event or program or at the location of the sponsoring organization.
(m) Signs that indicate the sale, rental, or lease of a particular residential or non-residential undeveloped parcel over three acres in area, multi-family, commercial structure or industrial land area, to be limited in size to 16 square feet in area and eight feet in height, with one sign allowed per street front. They shall be placed at least ten feet from any public right-of-way, and shall not be illuminated. Individual tenant spaces within a parcel are allowed a window or wall sign in compliance with section 1181.07(n) and 1181.08.
(n) Temporary window signs that are limited in size to 25% of the window area in which it is placed, and which are not illuminated. Such signs may be placed only in ground level windows where no other temporary signs are placed and be limited to only one sign per window. Such signs may be displayed not more than 120 days per calendar year if they indicate or promote special sales or special occasions. The date upon which a temporary window sign is first displayed shall be legibly marked on the sign. It will be assumed that a sign has been displayed continuously from the date marked. Merchandise may be displayed within individual store display windows.
(o) Business flags, not exceeding one per parcel and displaying the corporate or business emblem or seal, may be displayed if flown on a vertical staff or pole and in conjunction with the national flag. Such business flags shall be flown on the same staff or pole and below the national flag or on a separate staff or pole at a lower level than the national flag if such separate staff or pole is not in front of the national flag. The business flag shall not be larger than the national flag and in no instance exceed three feet in width or five feet in length. The business flag shall not display a product and shall contain no advertising copy.
(p) Menu Boards, provided such signs are oriented solely for the use of patrons utilizing the drive-thru and are not intended to be visible from adjacent property or the right-of-way.
(q) Messages displayed upon approved Manual Changeable Copy Signs provided for in Section 1181.09(b)(3) may be changed without permit.
(Ord. 98-58. Passed 1-19-99.)
Two Faces Count as One Sign Face
Each display counts as a separate sign face. | Sign area to be calculated as the projection of a spherical sign to a flat plane (as if cut in half). |
Clear Sight Triangle
