It is the intent and purpose of these sign regulations
to qualify, supplement or define the allowable uses of the several
types of signs allowed in the district regulations appearing elsewhere
in this chapter.
Any sign shall, by definition, be a structure.
No land, personal property or structure shall be used for sign purposes
except as specified herein.
A. A sign lawfully established before the effective date
of this chapter, but not conforming to the regulations of this chapter,
may be continued. Repair and maintenance and change of display of
a painted bulletin sign and change of poster panel signs shall be
permitted. In addition, any such sign which must at any time be moved
by reason of road repairs or utility work may be permanently or temporarily
relocated within 500 feet of the first location. If relocated beyond
the term of construction work, the sign shall meet requirements of
this chapter or be nonconforming. Any sign removed for construction
work must be relocated within 120 days or it may not be relocated
or replaced thereafter.
B. No sign shall be erected, enlarged, constructed or
otherwise installed without first obtaining a sign permit, and a sign
permit shall be legally issued only when in compliance with this sign
regulation. All signs shall be constructed in such a manner and of
such material that they shall be safe and substantial.
Every sign or other advertising structure lawfully
in existence on the adoption of this code shall not be altered or
moved unless it be made to comply with the provisions of this article,
except as otherwise provided for herein.
Should any nonconforming sign be damaged by
any means to an extent of more than 50% of its replacement cost at
the time of damage, it shall not be reconstructed except in conformity
with the provisions of these regulations.
A. Removal of on-site nonconforming signs. All on-site
nonconforming signs not otherwise prohibited by the provisions of
these regulations shall be removed or shall be altered to conform
to the provisions of this regulation:
(1) When
the nature of the business conducted on the premises changes and the
sign is changed or modified either in shape, size, or legend; or
(2) When
the name of the business changes and the sign is changed or modified
either in shape, size, or legend.
B. Removal of signs upon destruction of principal structures.
When a principal structure is destroyed or removed due to natural
or man-made circumstances, all signs on the property shall be removed
within 90 days, unless a construction permit has been issued to replace
the structure within said time period.
[Amended 2-17-2015]
No sign except those listed in §
350-77 may be erected or altered until a sign permit has been issued by the Director of Building and Zoning.
A. Application. A complete application for a sign permit
shall be submitted to the Director of Building and Zoning on a form
established by the County. No application shall be processed until
the application is complete. Application for permits shall be accompanied
by the following, if required by the Director of Building and Zoning
or if required by the provisions hereof:
(1) Plans and specifications of the proposed sign.
(2) An engineer's certificate certifying the proposed
sign and its construction to be of safe design.
(3) The right to inspect all permanent signs and marquees
prior to their installation and erection and prior to the issuance
of a permit.
B. Permit fees. Every application, before being granted
a permit hereunder, shall pay the permit fee as established by the
County Board.
C. Review and action. The Director of Building and Zoning
shall review the sign permit application to determine whether the
proposed sign complies with all the applicable sign regulations of
this article. Within five days of the submission of a complete application
for a sign permit, the Director of Building and Zoning shall either:
(1) Issue the sign permit, if the sign complies in every
respect with the standards of this article, if applicable; or
(2) Deny the sign permit if the sign fails in any way
to comply with the standards of this article. The Director of Building
and Zoning shall specify all reasons for the denial.
D. Inspection. Prior to installation of a sign, a stakeout
inspection shall be required to see if the sign meets the requirements
of this article. The permittee shall notify the Building Inspector,
who shall inspect such stakeout sign and approve the same if it is
in compliance with the provisions of this article. The Building Inspector
may, from time to time, as he deems necessary, inspect all signs regulated
by this article for the purpose of ascertaining whether the same are
secure or insecure or whether they are in need of removal or repair.
Signs shall be classified as follows:
A. Functional types.
(1) Advertising sign/billboard: a sign which directs the
attention of the public to any goods, merchandise, property, business,
service, entertainment or amusement conducted or produced which is
bought or sold, furnished, offered or dealt in elsewhere than on the
premises where such sign is located or to which it is affixed.
(2) Bulletin board sign: a sign that indicates the name
of an institution or organization on whose premises it is located
and which contains the name of the institution or organization, the
name or names of persons connected with it, and announcement of persons,
events or activities occurring at the institution. Such sign may also
present a greeting or similar message.
(3) Business sign: a sign which directs attention to a
business or profession conducted or to products, services or entertainment
sold or offered upon the premises where such sign is located or to
which it is affixed.
(4) Identification sign: a sign giving only the name and
address of a structure, business, development or establishment. Such
signs may be wholly or partly devoted to a readily recognized symbol.
(5) Church identification sign: a sign giving only the
name and address of a church. Such signs may be wholly or partly devoted
to a readily recognizable symbol.
[Amended 6-18-2002]
(6) Memorial sign: a sign, monument or statue serving
to help people remember some person or event.
(7) Nameplate sign: a sign giving the name and/or address
of the owner or occupant of a structure or premises on which it is
located and, where applicable, a professional status.
(8) Off-premises directional sign: a sign which gives
direction to an establishment in the Agriculture District. Such sign
is not allowed for a home occupation.
[Amended 6-17-2008]
(9) Political sign: any sign relating to a candidate,
political party, election or other issue.
(10)
Temporary sign: a display sign as listed below
that is limited in use by the duration of an event, including real
estate, construction, seasonal sale of produce, and political signs.
[Amended 6-18-2002; 2-17-2015]
(11)
Temporary real estate sign: a temporary sign
pertaining to the sale or lease of a lot or tract of land on which
the sign is located, or to the sale or lease of one or more structures,
or a portion thereof, on the land on which the sign is located.
(12)
Temporary construction sign: a temporary sign
indicating the names of the architects, engineers, landscape architects,
contractors and similar artisans involved in the design and construction
of a structure, complex or project only during the construction period
and only on the premises on which the construction is taking place.
B. Structural types.
[Amended 6-18-2002]
(1) Awning, canopy or marquee sign: a sign that is mounted
on, painted on, or attached to an awning, canopy or marquee. No such
signs shall project above, below or beyond the awning, canopy or marquee.
No such sign shall be illuminated, and such signs shall indicate only
the name and/or address of the establishment.
(2) Elevated sign: any sign placed upon, or supported
by, the ground independent of the principal structure on the property
where the bottom edge of the sign is 10 feet or more above the ground
level.
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X
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=
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1/2 of the sign face (preferred)
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Y
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=
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1/4 of width of base
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Z
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=
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30 feet
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(3) Ground sign: any sign placed upon, or supported by,
the ground independent of the principal structure on the property,
where the bottom edge of the sign is less than six feet above the
ground, and the base is no less than 50% of the width of the face
of the sign, presenting a monolithic structure; maximum height of
10 feet.
(4) Monument sign: any sign whose base is greater in width
than the face of the sign, and whose height is no greater than six
feet.
(5) Portable display sign: any movable display structure,
capable of relocation under its own power or towed by a motor vehicle.
The display message of the sign may be painted or unpainted and capable
of being readily altered. Portable display signs may be with or without
electrical illumination and power, and with or without wheels.
(6) Projecting sign: a sign that is wholly or partly dependent
upon a structure for support and which projects more than 12 inches
from such structure and shall have, at its lowest level, not less
than seven feet above the grade of the ground directly below it.
(7) Roof sign, elevated/projecting roof sign: a sign totally
supported on the roof of a structure, not including vertical roof
signs. Elevated/projecting roof signs shall not project more than
12 inches beyond the face of the structure. In no case shall an elevated/projecting
roof sign project more than 10 feet beyond the highest point of the
roof (compare with "roof sign, vertical").
(8) Roof sign, vertical: a sign totally supported on a
vertical face of the roof of a structure, such as a mansard or parapet,
and which is mounted parallel to such vertical surface. Vertical roof
signs shall not project more than 12 inches beyond the face of the
structure nor the vertical surface of the roof. In no case shall a
vertical roof sign project above the highest point of the roof (compare
with "roof sign, elevated/projecting").
(9) Window sign: any sign, pictures, symbol, or combination
thereof, designed to communicate information about an activity, business,
commodity, event, sale, or service, that is placed inside a window
or upon the window panes or glass and is visible from the exterior
of the window.
The following signs are prohibited:
A. Signs on public property. Any sign installed or placed
on public property, except in conformance with the requirements, shall
be forfeited to the public and subject to confiscation, except that
logo signs on athletic fields shall be allowed. In addition to other
remedies hereunder, the County shall have the right to recover from
the owner or person placing such a sign the full costs of removal
and disposal of such sign.
B. Obscene or indecent advertisement. No person shall
display upon any sign or other advertising structure any obscene,
indecent or immoral matter.
C. Elevated/Projecting roof signs.
D. Any sign located on a public right-of-way, except
those signs required by governmental authority.
Temporary signs shall be erected and maintained
in a safe and attractive manner and shall be subject to applicable
regulations, except as specifically modified herein.
A. Real estate signs. Real estate signs shall be removed
within one week of the date of sale, rental, or lease.
B. Construction signs. Development project (construction)
signs shall be no larger than 64 square feet. Such signs are subject
to yard area requirements and may be erected at the start of construction
and shall be removed upon project completion.
C. Portable display signs: display not exceeding 14 days
twice a year.
D. Seasonal sales of produce signs: as required in Article
VI, §
350-43MM(2)(d).
[Amended 6-18-2002]
Identification signs containing the name of
the development, the address of the development, the name or names
of individual businesses and their addresses may be erected in addition
to the signage permitted for the individual businesses. This identification
sign may contain the names and addresses of businesses that are not
on the lot containing the identification sign as long as they are
in the same subdivision as the identification sign. This identification
sign must comply with the following regulations:
A. One identification sign per street frontage.
B. Content. Such sign shall advertise only the name and
address of such development and/or the name and address of the individual
businesses within the development.
C. Area. The total sign area of an identification sign
shall not exceed 64 square feet
D. Height. The height of such sign shall not exceed 25
feet.
E. Setback. Such sign shall be set back a minimum of
10 feet for commercial districts and 15 feet for manufacturing districts
from the front lot line of such center or individual use, except as
may be provided by special use.
The District Sign Regulations Table of this
section provides a tabular summary of the sign types allowed within
each base zoning district.
A. Permitted signs. Signs identified in a Zoning District
column of the District Regulations Table below with a "P" are permitted
and shall be permitted in such zoning district, subject to such standards
as may be indicated in the "Standards" row and all other requirements
of this chapter.
B. Not permitted. Sign types not identified in a Zoning
District column of the District Regulations Table as permitted are
not allowed in such zoning district unless otherwise expressly permitted
by other regulations of this chapter.
[Amended 6-18-2002; 6-17-2008; 2-17-2015]
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Zoning Districts
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A
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R-1
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R-2
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C
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M-1
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M-2
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Standards
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Functional Sign Types
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Advertising sign (billboard)
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P
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Bulletin board
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Business sign
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P
|
P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Identification sign
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Church identification sign
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Name plate sign
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Off-premises directional sign
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P
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Temporary sign
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Structural Sign Types
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Awning, canopy or marquee sign
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|
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P
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P
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P
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Elevated sign
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P
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|
P
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P
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P
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Ground sign
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Monument sign
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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Portable display sign
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P
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Projecting sign
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P
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P
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P
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Roof sign
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P
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P
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P
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Wall sign
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P
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P
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P
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Window sign
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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P
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