This title of the Roseville Municipal Code shall be known and may be cited as “the Sign Ordinance of the City of Roseville” and is referred to within Title 17 as “this title.” The ordinance codified in this title is adopted pursuant to California Government Code Sections 65000 et seq., 65850(b), 38774, 38775, Business and Professions Code Sections 5200 et seq. and 5490 et seq., Civil Code Section 713, and other applicable state laws.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)
This title regulates signs, as defined herein, when they are on private property or otherwise project from private property over or into city property.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)
The city council adopts the ordinance codified in this title based upon the following findings:
A. 
Signs are an essential element of any community. As such, their location, number, size, design, and relationship to each other and to other structures have a significant influence upon a community’s appearance and welfare, and a resultant effect upon a viewer’s perception of the community. Signs serve a useful purpose in communicating messages, whether commercial, non-commercial, or merely informative, or otherwise.
B. 
Where signs are not properly regulated and maintained, they contribute to visual clutter, confusion, aesthetic blight, and create an unpleasant impression. They may cause traffic hazards and impede rather than enhance commerce and communication. In such situations, signs may fail to achieve their original objective of communication. Failure to appropriately regulate signs adversely affects the public health, safety and welfare.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)
The purpose of this title is to create a comprehensive and balanced system of sign regulation which will facilitate communication and simultaneously serve various public interests, including but not limited to safety and community esthetics. It is the intent of this title to authorize the use of signs which:
A. 
Encourage a desirable urban character consistent with the general plan.
B. 
Preserve and improve the appearance of the city as a place to live, work and visit.
C. 
Eliminate confusing, distracting, or dangerous sign displays which interfere with vehicular traffic and the safety of drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
D. 
Promote commerce.
E. 
Provide for fair and equal treatment of sign users.
F. 
Promote ease of sign ordinance administration.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)
If any section, sentence, clause, phrase, word, portion or provision of the ordinance codified in this title is held invalid or, unconstitutional, or unenforceable, by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any other section, sentence, clause, phrase, word, portion, or provision of said ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid portion. In adopting said ordinance, the city council affirmatively declares that it would have approved and adopted said ordinance even without any portion which may be held invalid or unenforceable.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)
Subject to the land owner’s consent, a noncommercial message of any type may be substituted, in whole or in part, for any commercial message or any other noncommercial message provided that the sign structure or mounting device is legal without consideration of message content. Such substitution of message may be made without any additional approval or permitting. This provision prevails over any more specific provision to the contrary within this title. The purpose of this provision is to prevent any inadvertent favoring of commercial speech over noncommercial speech, or favoring of any particular noncommercial message over any other noncommercial message. This provision does not create a right to increase the total amount of signage on a parcel, nor does it affect the requirement that a sign structure or mounting device be properly permitted. This provision applies to all chapters within this title except Chapter 17.17.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)
A. 
Enforcement. The director is authorized and directed to enforce and administer the provisions of this title.
B. 
Regulatory Interpretations. All regulatory and administrative interpretations of this title are to be exercised in light of the city’s message neutrality and message substitution policies. Where a particular type of sign is proposed in a permit application, and the type is neither expressly allowed nor prohibited by this title, or whenever a sign does not qualify as a “structure” as defined in the zoning code or the building code, then the director shall approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the application based on the most similar sign type that is expressly regulated by this title, in light of the policies stated in this title.
C. 
Onsite/Offsite Distinction. Within this title, the distinction between onsite (or on-premises or point-of-sale) and offsite (or off-premises or non-point-of-sale) applies only to commercial speech messages.
D. 
Billboard Policy. New billboards, as defined herein, are prohibited. The city completely prohibits the construction, erection or use of any billboards, other than those which legally exist in the city, or which have been approved by the city council, or for which a valid permit has been issued and has not expired, as of the date on which this provision is first adopted. No permit shall be issued for any billboard which violates this policy, and the city will take immediate enforcement or abatement action against any billboard constructed or maintained in violation of this policy. In adopting this provision, the city council affirmatively declares that it would have adopted this billboard policy even if it were the only provision in this title. The city council intends for this billboard policy to be severable and separately enforceable even if other provision(s) of this title may be declared, by a court of competent jurisdiction, to be unconstitutional, invalid or unenforceable. This provision does not prohibit agreements to relocate presently existing, legal billboards, so long as such agreements are not contrary to state or federal law.
E. 
Noncommunicative Aspects. All rules and regulations concerning the noncommunicative aspects of signs, such as location, size, height, illumination, spacing, orientation, etc., stand enforceable independently of any permit or approval process.
F. 
Discretionary Approvals. Whenever any sign permit, exception, or other sign-related decision is made by any exercise of official discretion, such discretion shall be exercised only as to the noncommunicative aspects of the sign, such as size, height, orientation, location, setback, illumination, spacing, scale, and mass of the structure, etc.
G. 
Mixed Use Zones or Overlay Districts. In any zone where both residential and non residential uses are allowed, the sign-related rights and responsibilities applicable to any particular parcel or land use shall be determined as follows: residential uses shall be treated as if they were located in a zone where a use of that type would be allowed as a matter of right, and nonresidential uses shall be treated as if they were located in a zone where that particular use would be allowed, either as a matter of right or subject to a conditional use permit or similar discretionary process.
H. 
Legal Nature of Sign Rights. As to all signs attached to real property, the signage rights, duties and obligations arising from this title attach to and travel with the land or other property on which a sign is mounted or displayed. This provision does not modify or affect the law of fixtures, sign-related provisions in private leases regarding signs (so long as they are not in conflict with this title or other law), or the ownership of sign structures. This provision does not apply to hand held signs or other images which are aspects of personal appearance.
I. 
Owner’s Consent. No sign may be placed on private property without the consent of the property owner or persons holding the present right of possession and control.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)
The inclusion of diagrams is for illustrative purposes only. Where a diagram conflicts with text, the text shall control.
(Ord. 4648 § 2, 2008)