(A) Permit required.
(1) Unless otherwise exempted in this chapter, no person, firm or corporation shall erect, construct, locate, display, place, structurally or graphically alter, relocate or maintain any sign without having first obtained a valid permit for such sign, issued by the village with the approval of the Building Commissioner as required in this chapter.
(2) An application for a permit under this chapter shall be made upon forms provided by the village for this purpose, which are available at the Building Department.
(3) No permit shall be required for repainting, cleaning, and other normal maintenance or repair of a sign structure, provided that such maintenance does not alter the original copy displayed on the sign face(s), the surface area, height, or otherwise in any way render the sign non-conforming.
(4) Permits shall be required for the removal or demolition of permanent signs.
(5) Illuminated signs shall require both a sign permit and an electrical permit, provided that the Building Commissioner may waive the requirement of an electrical permit where the sign operates on 110 VAC current, is approved by Underwriter’s Laboratory and is plugged directly into a pre-existing ground fault protected hard-wired 110 VAC duplex outlet.
(6) Each sign proposed to be erected shall require a separate permit.
(7) Property owners or tenants, or their sign companies or agents are advised in the case of questions about these sign regulations to consult with the Building Department in advance of submitting a permit application.
(B) Permit fees. Every applicant, before being granted a permit hereunder, shall pay to the village a fee for each proposed sign or sign structure (e.g. flagpole) as established by the fee schedule set forth in § 158.15.
(C) Submission requirements. Materials required to be submitted in order to review a permit application shall be in accordance with administrative procedures issued by the Building Department.
(D) Standards for review and approval. All sign permit applications will be reviewed according to the physical parameters and design standards contained in this chapter. Upon receipt of a complete application, staff will rule on the permit within 21 business days.
(1) A sign permit will be issued if such application is complete, accurate, conforms to the standards of this chapter and is in accordance with all other applicable requirements of this code and village ordinances.
(2) If the work authorized under the permit has not been completed within 90 days following the permit issue date, the permit shall become null and void. If 90 days has elapsed, a new application shall be required if the permittee desires to erect the sign originally contemplated. However, such application shall be reviewed according to the standards of the village then in force, and no rights to previous standards under which the original permit was issued shall exist.
(3) If any sign is erected, altered or relocated without receipt of a valid permit, the specified permit fees shall be doubled. However, such payment shall not relieve any person of any requirement or penalties prescribed in this chapter, nor shall the expense of erecting or the existence itself of the sign be deemed a justifiable hardship warranting waiver of any requirement or penalty, whether the sign is conforming or non-conforming. Failure to pay the fees shall result in enforcement by the village to obtain the fees or the removal of the sign. Nothing in this section shall be construed to mandate the retroactive payment of sign permit fees that were not required prior to adoption of this chapter.
(Ord. 2010-O-1, passed 1-5-10)