Director.
The director of planning and development or any duly authorized
representative.
Off-site.
Any location other than the site where the products, goods,
services or business advertised are located.
Portable sign.
A sign not permanently affixed or anchored to the ground
or to a building or other structure and which is designed to permit
removal and reuse, which includes but is not limited to signs mounted
on a trailer, wheeled carrier, motorized and nonmotorized vehicle,
or other portable structure. (See figure 9 of sign illustrations.)
Retail shopping (mall, strip)/office center.
A group of four (4) or more retail, office and/or commercial
establishments which is planned and developed (common access and parking)
as a unit and which is related in its location, size and type of shops
to the trade area that the unit serves.
Right-of-way.
All public right-of-way of streets or other public property
within the city.
Sign.
An outdoor structure, sign, display, light device, figure,
painting, drawing, message, plaque, poster, billboard or other thing
that is visible from a public street and designed, intended, or used
to advertise or inform.
Street.
The area from back of curb to back of curb, and from pavement
edge to pavement edge if no curb exists.
Visibility clearance areas.
Triangular-shaped areas located at the intersection of street
rights-of-way and the intersection of a street and a driveway. The
sides of the triangle extend twenty-five (25) feet from the intersection
of vehicle travel areas for street intersections, and fifteen (15)
feet for intersections of streets and driveways. (See figure 5 of
sign illustrations; includes clearance areas for ground and freestanding
signs.)
Editor’s note–The sign illustrations
referred to in this section are not printed herein.
(Ordinance 84-95, sec. 1, adopted 9/25/84; Ordinance 91-95, sec. 1, adopted 11/26/91; 1957
Code, sec. 15C-1)
Prior to the use or placement of any portable sign, a permit
must be obtained pursuant to the following terms and conditions:
(1) A
portable sign permit may be issued for a business, office, or use
(not within a shopping (mall, strip)/office center, retail) for the
placement of a portable sign for a period not to exceed sixty (60)
days. No permit for the same business and/or location shall be issued
until thirty (30) days has elapsed since the previous permit has expired.
Said portable sign shall be physically removed from the referenced
location upon expiration of the permit.
(2) A
portable sign permit may be issued for retail shopping (mall, strip)/office
centers) for the placement of a portable sign for a period not to
exceed sixty (60) days. No permit shall be issued for the placement
or location of a portable sign for the same business, office or use
until a period of thirty (30) days has elapsed since the previous
permit has expired, and in no case shall any shopping center or combined
commercial, retail or office development display or be permitted for
more than three (3) portable signs per major street frontage. In addition,
the center must maintain a distance of one hundred fifty (150) feet
between portable signs, and more than one (1) sign cannot be permitted
unless the one-hundred-fifty-foot distance can be maintained.
(3) Portable
signs shall be located no closer than fifteen (15) feet to the street
and a greater distance if necessary to be located off of the right-of-way.
In no case shall the portable sign be located within the public right-of-way.
Further, said signs shall not be located in the area described as
the visibility clearance areas.
(4) Portable
signs shall not exceed thirty-five (35) square feet in area.
(5) Portable
signs shall permanently display on the sign in easily readable form
the name, address, city, zip code and telephone number of the owner
of said sign.
(6) Portable
signs may be internally or indirectly lighted; however, such light
or lights shall not be of a flashing, intermittent, moving or similarly
lighted type. Any accessory lighting, if present, surrounding the
message display area shall contain only white, nonflashing bulbs.
(7) Unsafe signs listed in section
3-14-33 shall not be eligible for a permit.
(8) Permits
for portable signs shall be obtained from the city department of planning
and development. Said permits shall be obtained for each sign, location
and period of installation. A fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00)
will be charged for each approved permit.
(9) No
sign, portable or otherwise, shall be placed so as to project into
the public right-of-way of any street or alley, except as otherwise
provided in the city Code of Ordinances.
(10) Permits obtained pursuant to this division shall satisfy any permit
requirements in the building code.
(11) Portable signs shall be allowed in the following zoning districts:
O, MC, P, NS, R, LC, HC, CB-1, CB-2, LI and HI.
(Ordinance 84-95, sec. 1, adopted 9/25/84; Ordinance 91-95, sec. 1, adopted 11/26/91; 1957
Code, sec. 15C-2)
It is hereby expressly declared that the following signs are
in fact unsafe signs causing immediate danger, and are hereby declared
a nuisance. It shall be the duty of the owner of the sign, the lessee
of the sign, the owner of the property on which the sign is located,
and the owner and manager of any business advertised on the sign to
immediately remove the sign, or correct the unsafe conditions, and
the refusal to do so will constitute a violation of this division:
(1) Any
sign erected, placed, used, altered, or maintained in the public right-of-way.
(2) Any
portable sign or sign supporting structure which is located within
the area defined as the visibility clearance areas.
(3) Any
portable sign which is not in compliance with the city zoning ordinance.
(4) Any
portable sign which becomes insecure, in danger of falling, or otherwise
unsafe, or any portable sign which is erected or maintained in violation
of the provisions of the city building code.
(5) Any
portable sign located nearer than fifteen (15) feet from the street.
(6) Any
portable sign which is located or constructed so as to interfere with
or confuse the control of traffic on the public streets, and any portable
sign which uses a rotating beacon, beam or flashing illumination.
(7) Any
signs which resemble an official traffic sign or signal or which bear
the words “stop,” “go slow,” “caution,”
“danger,” “warning,” or similar words are
prohibited.
(8) Any
portable signs located off-site and used for commercial purposes,
including advertising products, goods, service or information for
businesses or offices, are prohibited.
(Ordinance 84-95, sec. 1, adopted 9/25/84; Ordinance 91-95, sec. 1, adopted 11/26/91; 1957
Code, sec. 15C-3; Ordinance 2016-37 adopted 10/25/16)
(a) The
owner or occupant of any property upon which there is located a sign
in violation of this division or the owner or lessee of any portable
sign which is in violation of this division as herein defined shall
be given written notice by the director of planning and development
or any authorized representative stating the nature of the violation
and ordering that the violation be corrected or removed from said
property within seventy-two (72) hours.
(b) If
the owner, lessor, lessee, or representative of the lessor of the
portable sign fails to remove such sign within seventy-two (72) hours
of written notification from the director of planning and development
or a duly authorized representative, or by publication if the address
is unknown, the portable sign may be removed by the city at the expense
of the sign owner or the person erecting, leasing, using, or maintaining
it.
(c) Any
portable sign so removed shall be subject to a fee of fifty dollars
($50.00) for hauling the sign to the city storage area plus a ten-dollar
($10.00) per day storage fee for each day the sign is stored by the
city.
(d) Any
portable sign so removed from public or private property shall be
stored or impounded by the city until all applicable charges have
been paid, or until thirty (30) days have passed.
(e) If
any sign remains unclaimed for a period of thirty (30) days after
its removal, or if the removal and storage costs are not paid within
such thirty-day period, the city may destroy, sell or otherwise dispose
of the sign. If sold, the sign shall be marked by city personnel and
shall not be brought back inside the city limits for display. In calculating
the length of the storage period and the storage fee, the first working
day after the date of the impoundment shall be considered day number
one (1); thereafter, all days including weekends and holidays shall
be counted.
(f) The
director or any duly authorized agent may enter upon private property
which is accessible to the public for the purposes specified in this
division to examine signs or their location, obtain information as
to the ownership of signs, and remove or cause the removal of a sign
declared to be a nuisance pursuant to this division.
(g) The issuance of a notice of violation as referenced in subsection
(a) of this section shall not preclude the issuance of a criminal citation for the violation of this division.
(Ordinance 84-95, sec. 1, adopted 9/25/84; Ordinance 91-95, sec. 1, adopted 11/26/91; 1957
Code, sec. 15C-4)
(a) Any
person who is required to remove or modify a portable sign as a result
of this division may, within a seventy-two-hour period after the service
of notice is given, request, in writing, a hearing to determine whether
he or she is in violation of this division. If a person does request
the hearing, it will be held (after notice is given to the person
appealing) before the director of planning and development within
five (5) days of the date the request is received, at a time to be
determined by the director.
(b) If
the director, after considering the evidence, decides that the sign
in question is in fact in violation of this division, then the sign
shall be removed or brought into compliance within seventy-two (72)
hours from the time the director’s decision is rendered.
(c) This
section shall not in any way negate the right of the city to immediately
remove any portable sign creating real and immediate danger to life
or property.
(Ordinance 84-95, sec. 1, adopted 9/25/84; Ordinance 91-95, sec. 1, adopted 11/26/91; 1957
Code, sec. 15C-5)
The provisions of this division shall be applicable to all portable
signs in the city, and nonconforming status or rights will not be
granted to existing portable signs.
(Ordinance 84-95, sec. 1, adopted 9/25/84; Ordinance 86-72, sec. 1, adopted 10/14/86; 1957
Code, sec. 15C-6)