For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply, unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
Alter.
To change the size, shape or outline, copy, nature of message, intent, or type of sign.
Bulletin board.
A sign containing information where a portion of that information may be periodically changed, provided that the change shall be effected by the replacement or interchange of letters, numbers, or other graphic symbols by insertion, attachment, or similar means. The use of slate, chalkboard, cardboard, or similar material with pencil, chalk, crayon, or similar types of marking is prohibited.
Canopy.
A roof-like structure which extends horizontally more than 1 foot from the face of a building wall and does not have a structural border.
Chief building official.
The person designated by the mayor.
Copy.
Logos, characters, symbols, or any other portion of a sign which conveys a message or information.
Erect.
To build, construct, attach, hang, place suspended, or affix, and shall also include the painting of signs on the exterior surface of a building or structure, and also includes the painting or affixing of signs to the exterior or interior surface of windows, and includes signs located interior to a building but readily visible from the exterior.
Illuminated sign.
Any sign which has characters, letters, figures, designs, or outline illuminated directly or indirectly by electric lights, luminous tubes, or other means.
Monument sign.
Any sign mounted on a base and which is 5 feet in height or less, with a maximum area of 40 square feet.
On-premises sign.
A freestanding sign identifying or advertising a business, person, or activity, and installed and maintained on the same premises as the business, person, or activity, event, place, service, or product principally located or primarily manufactured or sold on the premises on which the sign is located.
Projecting structures.
Covered structures of a permanent nature which are constructed of approved building material, specifically excluding canvas or fabric material, and where those structures are an integral part of the main building or permanently attached to a main building and do not extend over public property. Projecting structures include marquee, canopy, and fixed-awning type structures.
Roof line.
The height which is defined by the intersection of the roof of the building with the wall of the building; except, for mansard-type roofs, the roof line means the top of the lower slope of the roof. Roofs with parapet walls completely around the building and not exceeding 4 feet in height may be considered as the roof line for the purposes of this article.
Sign.
An outdoor structure, sign, display, light device, figure, painting, drawing, message, plaque, poster, billboard, or other thing that is designed, intended, or used to advertise or inform.
Structural trim.
The molding, battens, cappings, nailing strips, latticing, and platforms which are attached to the sign structure.
Vehicle.
Any automobile, truck, camper, tractor, van, trailer, or any device capable of being transported, and shall be considered a vehicle in both moving and stationary modes, irrespective of state of repair or condition.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 1, adopted 3/4/13; Ordinance adopting Code)
Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this article shall be subject to the same penalty as provided herein, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed the sum of $500.00 for each offense, and each and every day the violation shall continue shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 10, adopted 3/4/13)
Pursuant to Texas Transportation Code sec. 393.007, civil penalty:
(1) 
A person who places or commissions the placement of a sign on the right-of-way of a public road that is not otherwise authorized by law may be liable for a civil penalty. The town attorney in the jurisdiction in which the placement of a sign on the right-of-way of a public road is alleged to have occurred may sue to collect the penalty on behalf of the town.
(2) 
The amount of the civil penalty is not less than $500.00 or more than $1,000.00 for each violation, depending on the seriousness of the violation and whether the person has previously violated this chapter. A separate penalty may be collected for each day a continuing violation occurs.
(3) 
A penalty collected under this section shall be deposited to the credit of the general fund of the town in which the violation occurred if collected by a municipal attorney.
(4) 
The town attorney may recover reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in an action brought under subsection (1).
(Ordinance 330-12-2019, sec. 1, adopted 12/9/19)
(a) 
No sign shall use a rotating beacon, beam or flashing illumination resembling an emergency signal. No sign shall be erected so as to project into the public right-of-way or obstruct the view of the public right-of-way by those traveling any street or alley.
(b) 
No person may affix, paste, stick, scatter, throw, place or display banners, signs or other advertising media upon any telephone or electric light pole or other public property or within any easement or designated right-of-way of any public street or easement.
(c) 
No sign may be located in a street right-of-way, including medians, and/or obstruct vision of traffic or pedestrians of the street right-of-way, unless authorized by state law. Pursuant to Texas Transportation Code sec. 393.0025 municipal authority to regulate sign placement:
(1) 
A person may not place a sign on the right-of-way of a road or highway maintained by a municipality unless the placement is authorized by the municipality.
(2) 
This section does not apply to the right-of-way of a road or highway in the state highway system.
(d) 
No signs or notices shall be placed on another person’s private property without prior written permission of the owner thereof.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 2(A), adopted 3/4/13; Ordinance 330-12-2019, sec. 2, adopted 12/9/19)
Churches or schools only may have illuminated signs on their property, but not of a flashing or intermittent type. Such signs shall not exceed thirty-six (36) square feet in area when attached to the building or when erected where allowed on the property; provided, however, that no such sign shall be erected above the height of six feet; and provided further that no such sign shall be erected above or upon, or be attached to, the roof of any building. One sign per church or school is permitted, unless town council approval is requested and received.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 2(B), adopted 3/4/13; Ordinance 330-12-2019, sec. 3, adopted 12/9/19)
(a) 
Front yard.
A sign shall not exceed 4 square feet in area and shall not exceed 4 feet in height in residential districts The number of signs shall be limited to 2 per lot, except, where such lot abuts more than 1 dedicated public street, 1 additional sign shall be allowed for the additional public street.
(b) 
Undeveloped acreage on-site.
Signs on undeveloped or not yet platted acreage of not less than 10 acres may have signs as follows:
(1) 
Not larger than 32 square feet per side, 64 square feet total per sign;
(2) 
Not higher than 15 feet in height above the ground surface of the tract;
(3) 
For tracts greater than 20 acres, there may be 1 sign on each public roadway abutting the tract.
(4) 
All portions of the sign, including frame, walls, supports and all other portions of the structure composing the “sign” are included in the size limitations in subsections (1)–(3) above.
(c) 
Residential subdivision permanent identification signs.
Residential subdivision permanent identification signs shall be permanent in nature, the design and construction of which shall be submitted for approval to the town council with the preliminary plat of the subdivision. Such signs shall comply with the requirements of a monument sign, unless waived by the town council. The purpose of the subdivision identification sign is the permanent identification of the subdivision, rather than the identification of the builder, contractors, realtors, or other persons or entities responsible for the development and sale of the real estate within the subdivision. The total height limit of a sign described in this subsection (c) is fifteen feet above grade.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 3, adopted 3/4/13; Ordinance 330-12-2019, sec. 4, adopted 12/9/19)
town residents desiring to hold a garage sale may place signs, each of them no more than 4 square feet in area, nor more than 4 feet in height, as measured from grade level to the top of the sign, to advertise the sale. The signs may only be placed in the period of the day before, the sale day(s), and the day after. All signage shall be removed within twenty-four (24) hours of the end of the garage sale. No signs or notices advertising any garage sale shall be placed on any utility poles or upon private property without permission of the owner thereof. Each person holding a garage sale shall be allowed to place or erect no more than two (2) outside signs in the town, in addition to any at the location of the sale, advertising the garage sale.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 4(A), adopted 3/4/13; Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) 
Compliance.
All political signs shall comply with all state and federal requirements, including Texas Election Code, chapter 255, and Texas Transportation Code, chapters 392 and 393.
(b) 
Notice.
(1) 
Pursuant to section 255.001 of the Texas Election Code, the following notice must be written on each political advertising sign:
“REQUIRED DISCLOSURE ON POLITICAL ADVERTISING.”
(A) 
A person may not knowingly cause to be published, distributed, or broadcast political advertising containing express advocacy that does not indicate in the advertising:
(i) 
That it is political advertising; and
(ii) 
The full name of:
a. 
The person who paid for the political advertising;
b. 
The political committee authorizing the political advertising; or
c. 
The candidate or specific-purpose committee supporting the candidate, if the political advertising is authorized by the candidate.
(B) 
Political advertising that is authorized by a candidate, an agent of a candidate, or a political committee filing reports under this title shall be deemed to contain express advocacy.
(2) 
A person commits an offense if the person:
(A) 
Knowingly enters into a contract to print or make a political advertising sign that does not contain the notice required by subsection (1); or
(B) 
Instructs another person to place a political advertising sign that does not contain the notice required by subsection (1).
(3) 
An offense under this section is a class C misdemeanor.
(4) 
It is an exception to the application of subsection (2) that the political advertising sign was printed or made before September 1, 1997, and complied with subsection (1) as it existed immediately before that date.
(5) 
In this section, “political advertising sign” means a written form of political advertising designed to be seen from a road but does not include a bumper sticker.
(c) 
Private real property.
(1) 
Pursuant to section 216.903 of the Texas Government Code, a sign that contains primarily a political message and that is located on private real property with or without the consent of the property owner is prohibited if:
(A) 
The sign has an affected area of greater than 36 feet;
(B) 
Is more than 8 feet high;
(C) 
Is illuminated; or
(D) 
Has any moving elements.
(2) 
In this section, “private real property” does not include real property subject to an easement or other encumbrance that allows the municipality to use the property for a public purpose. Therefore political signs may not be placed in the dedicated public right-of-way of the town, including any prescriptive road or utility easement, at any time.
(3) 
Political signs placed in the public right-of-way or public prescriptive easement, may be removed by the town for a removal fee of $15.00 for each sign. The removal fee for the sign is in addition to and not in substitution before any violations of this section, or state and federal law which may apply.
(d) 
Extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The regulation of political signs herein extends into the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the town.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 5, adopted 3/4/13; Ordinance 285-12-2015 adopted 12/14/15; Ordinance 330-12-2019, sec. 5, adopted 12/9/19)
Public service announcement signs not to exceed 18" x 24" may be placed only in locations designated by the town, school district, LCMUA, Denton County, churches, and/or youth organizations (e.g., Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMCA, or similar charitable organizations with offices in the Lake Cities) for the purpose of public information. The number of signs from any organization may not exceed 6 signs during any one period of 14 days.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 6, adopted 3/4/13)
A permanent sign erected within the town prior to the effective date of this article, which does not conform to the regulations of this article, shall be deemed to be a nonconforming sign which shall be allowed to continue, with normal maintenance and repair only; provided, however, a nonconforming sign may not be enlarged, expanded, or extended, except as otherwise provided herein. It is not the intent of this section to encourage the survival of nonconforming signs; to the contrary, nonconforming signs are discouraged and contrary to the intent and purpose of this article.
(1) 
Obsolescence or destruction.
A nonconforming sign shall not be enlarged, expanded, extended, replaced, or rebuilt in case of obsolescence or total destruction by any means or cause.
(2) 
Repair or reconstruction if damaged.
In the event a nonconforming sign is damaged by any means or cause and the repair or reconstruction cost, whichever is applicable, equals or exceeds 50% of the fair market value of the sign at the time of the damage, it must be removed or brought into compliance with this article.
(3) 
Removal of unlawful signs.
In case any nonconforming sign is enlarged, expanded, extended, replaced, or rebuilt in violation of any of the terms of this article, the mayor or town secretary shall give written notice by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner, lessee, or person responsible for the sign to remove the sign or bring the sign into compliance with this article. If the order is not complied with within 10 days, the mayor or town secretary shall revoke the sign permit, if any, and/or cause a complaint to be filed in the municipal court.
(4) 
Placement and removal of signs.
All signs shall be placed by the owner or the party in control of the property or with the permission of the owner or party in control, and the owner or party in control shall be responsible for the prompt removal of any sign in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(5) 
Temporary and portable signs.
Nonconforming temporary business signs and portable signs shall be removed or made to conform to the provisions of this article within 30 days after the effective date of this article.
(Ordinance 253-2-2013, sec. 7, adopted 3/4/13; Ordinance 330-12-2019, sec. 6, adopted 12/9/19)
Signs in a nonconforming use, or special permit, or zoning classification that allow legal commercial operations are limited to one sign that is in compliance with the same regulations as signs on church and school property, as set forth in section 3.07.005.
(Ordinance 330-12-2019, sec. 7, adopted 12/9/19)