A. 
A Sign Committee of five members may be appointed by the Select Board members for three-year terms (so arranged initially that no more than two terms expire each year). Members shall include at least one retail merchant operating in Sharon, one registered architect or landscape architect, and one other person having professional training in visual design. In addition to the five members, two associate members shall be appointed by the Select Board members for one-year terms, to act in cases where members are unable to do so.
B. 
The Committee shall elect a Chairman and a Clerk. All decisions shall be made by majority vote of the five members or members and alternates.
C. 
If no such Sign Committee has been appointed by the Select Board, the Board of Appeals shall act as Sign Committee.
D. 
Action on applications.
(1) 
The Sign Committee shall act on applications and appeals for all signs except as set forth in Subsection D(2) and (3) below.
(2) 
The Planning Board shall act as the Sign Committee for all signs for a facility within Business Districts A and C and for off-premises signs pertaining to a facility in Business Districts A and C in lieu of the Sign Committee created under this § 221-3 and references to the Sign Committee are deemed to reference the Planning Board. All applications for sign approvals for a facility within and for off-premises signs pertaining to a facility in Business Districts A and C shall be submitted to the Sign Committee created under this § 221-3 in addition to the Planning Board, and the Sign Committee shall be given an opportunity by the Planning Board to provide its comments on each such application.
(3) 
The Board of Appeals shall act as the Sign Committee for all signs for a facility within Business District D and for off-premises signs pertaining to a facility in Business District D in lieu of the Sign Committee created under this § 221-3 and references to the Sign Committee are deemed to reference the Board of Appeals. All applications for sign approvals for a facility within and for off-premises signs pertaining to a facility in Business District D shall be submitted to the Sign Committee created under this § 221-3 in addition to the Board of Appeals, and the Sign Committee shall be given an opportunity by the Board of Appeals to provide its comments on each such application.
[Amended 5-5-2025 ATM by Art. 25]
A. 
No sign shall be erected, enlarged, reworded, redesigned or structurally altered without a sign permit issued by the Building Inspector, unless specifically exempted from this requirement in Article IV. Permits shall only be authorized for signs in conformance with this bylaw. Permit applications shall be accompanied by two prints of scale drawings of the sign, supporting structure and location.
B. 
Permits shall expire 10 years from the date of issue, but may be renewed for additional ten-year periods subject to the same standards and procedures as for new signs at that time.
C. 
For signs subject to design review in Business Districs A and C by the Sign Committee, permit approval or disapproval shall be determined following the review and reported to the Building Inspector within 30 days of application or appeal unless the applicant requests an extension to facilitate submittal of additional materials or revised design.
[Amended 5-5-2025 ATM by Art. 25]
The Sign Committee may, upon appeal from design review or hearing, grant a variance from the terms of this bylaw upon its finding that owing to physical peculiarities of the specific location, literal enforcement of those terms would result in substantial hardship to the applicant or detriment to the vicinity, and that results of granting the variance will be consistent with the stated objectives of this bylaw.
[Amended 5-5-2025 ATM by Art. 25]
Application and/or hearing fees shall be established and revised from time to time by the Sign Committee.
Any person violating any provision of this bylaw shall be subject to a penalty under the noncriminal processes authorized at MGL c. 40, § 21D, as set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, of the Town Code. Each day that the violation continues shall be considered a separate offense.