Pursuant to § 274-a of the Town Law,
the Planning Board is authorized to adopt, subject to § 376-190,
site development plan rules and regulations which shall include standards
for signs and lighting. Signs heretofore validly erected are permitted
subject to the provisions of § 376-132.
No sign shall hereafter be erected, re-erected, constructed, enlarged or altered without a sign permit. No sign permit shall be issued except as shown on an approved site development plan or sign plan. Where only the sign display portion of a validly erected sign is being changed, no sign permit is required. Signs conforming to the New York State Department of Transportation Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and other traffic regulatory signs shown on an approved site development plan or required pursuant to the order of municipal traffic control agencies, shall be exempt from the requirement for sign permits. Political and temporary signs as provided for in Chapter 223, Signs, Article I, Temporary Signs, of the Code of the Town of Ramapo shall comply with the provisions of said chapter.
Any signs not expressly permitted by this chapter
are prohibited. Additional types of signs that are prohibited include:
A.
Flashing signs, including any sign or device
on which the artificial light is not maintained stationary and constant
in intensity and color at all times when in use.
B.
Exterior advertising signs and billboards.
C.
Signs representing or depicting to any degree
official traffic signs or signals.
D.
Signs which emit noise, sounds or smoke.
E.
Animated signs, whether by mechanical or electrical
processes, including signs with banners, streamers, spinners or other
paraphernalia attached to or associated with such signs.
F.
Signs of a prurient nature or advertising businesses,
commodities or services of a prurient nature or any unlawful business
or undertaking.
G.
Illuminated signs outlining any part of a building,
such as a gable, roof, sidewall or corner.
I.
Signs mounted on parked vehicles or trailers
or other similar mobile advertising media.
J.
Signs which project over a street.
K.
Signs obstructing traffic visibility. No freestanding
sign shall be erected or maintained in the shaded area shown in Sketch
A referred to in § 376-51C,[1] as such shaded area relates to the intersection of two
streets or to the intersection of a driveway with a street.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said sketch is included at the end of this chapter.
A.
No sign permit will be issued except in accordance
with a sign plan approval or a site development plan approval. After
such approval, an application for a sign permit shall be made to the
Director of Building, Planning and Zoning on forms prescribed by the
Director of Building, Planning and Zoning and shall contain the information
specified in the site development plan rules and regulations. All
applications shall be accompanied by the required fee in accordance
with the Standard Schedule of Fees of the Town of Ramapo.
B.
The Building Inspector, upon receipt of an application
for a sign permit, shall review the same. If the sign requested has
been approved on a site development plan or a sign plan, the Building
Inspector shall issue a sign permit.
C.
If there is no sign plan approval or site plan
approval, the applicant must submit an application to the Director
of Building, Planning and Zoning for either site development plan
approval or sign plan approval, whichever is applicable. In the case
of a sign which is not submitted as part of a site development plan,
a sign plan for such sign shall be subject to review and approval
by the Community Design Review Committee. Upon the granting of a site
development plan or a sign plan approval, a copy of the approved plan
shall be transmitted to the Building Inspector.
The Planning Board, in promulgating site development
plan rules and regulations, shall provide for a limitation on the
size of signs, type and characteristics of illumination, number and
location, taking into consideration the uses on the site and the reasonable
requirement for communicating information to the vehicular or pedestrian
public. The Planning Board and/or the Community Design Review Committee
shall consider the following supplemental use criteria in granting
any approvals for signs:
A.
Signs must be clearly accessory to the use or
uses upon the same lot, and such signs and lighting must be shown
to be essential to the conduct of the principal use upon the lot.
B.
The size and content of the sign shall be the
minimum essential for legibility and for the provision of information
to patrons seeking the particular use described on such sign.
C.
The sign content shall not hawk or peddle and
must clearly provide only the information necessary to identify the
use upon the lot.
D.
The sign shall not be confused with any traffic
signal or other safety device nor be composed of elements depicting
in exaggerated size or grotesque style the use upon the lot.
E.
All signs, together with their supportings,
braces, guys, anchors, etc., shall be kept in repair and in a proper
state of preservation. The display surfaces of all signs shall be
kept neatly painted or maintained at all times.
A.
Applicability. Any sign not in conformity with
such an approved sign permit shall be deemed a violation of this chapter.
No sign permit shall hereafter be approved or issued except in conformity
with the requirements of this chapter and the site development plan
rules and regulations. No permit shall be issued for any sign except
in conformity with an approved sign plan or site development plan.
B.
Removal of certain signs. Any sign now or hereafter
existing which no longer identifies a use on the subject premises,
or is not being maintained, shall be taken down and removed by the
owner, agent or person having the beneficial use of the building or
structure upon which such sign may be found within 10 days after written
notification from the Building Inspector, and, upon failure to comply
with such notice within the time specified in such order, the Building
Inspector is hereby authorized to cause removal of such obsolete or
dangerous sign.
C.
Dangerous signs. Should a sign be or become
insecure or in danger of falling or otherwise unsafe in the opinion
of the Building Inspector, the owner thereof or person maintaining
the same shall, upon receipt of written notice from the Building Inspector
and in any case within five days thereafter, secure the same in a
manner to be approved by the Building Inspector. If such order is
not complied with, the Building Inspector is hereby authorized to
cause removal of such dangerous sign, and any expense incident thereto
shall be paid by the owner of the building, structure or premises
on which such sign is located. The cost of removal shall constitute
a lien on the real property on which it is levied until paid or otherwise
cancelled pursuant to law and shall be collected in the manner fixed
by law for the collection of Town taxes. When any sign is in such
dangerous condition as to be immediately dangerous to the safety of
the public, the Building Inspector is hereby authorized to take such
action as in his opinion shall be necessary to protect the public
or property.
Any sign which was in existence prior to the
effective date of this chapter, and which conformed to the applicable
provisions of the 1969 Zoning Ordinance and the Sign Code (Local Law
No. 2 of 1968) but which does not conform to the applicable provisions
of this chapter, shall be deemed nonconforming, and the display of
such sign shall be permitted to continue. All other signs which have
been erected but fail to comply with the requirements of the 1969
Zoning Ordinance or Sign Code shall have six months after the effective
date of this chapter to be brought into compliance or removed.
