Township of Whitpain, PA Off-Premises Advertising Sign Overlay District

Off-premises advertising signs shall not exceed 35 feet in height.

The height shall be measured from the grade of the immediately adjoining street, road, highway or alley to which the sign is oriented to the highest part of the sign.

As part of a conditional use approval, the Board of Supervisors may permit a sign height in excess of 35 feet where good cause is shown related to safe visibility from the roadway.

Location of sign.

[Amended 5-1-2018 by Ord. No. 4-249; 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

Off-premises advertising signs shall be located no closer than 20 feet from any property line.

Off-premises advertising signs shall not be located closer than 25 feet from any street or road measured from the ultimate right-of-way of such street or road.

Off-premises advertising signs may not be closer than 1,000 feet from another off-premises advertising sign measured linearly.

No off-premises advertising sign shall be located within 500 feet of any right-of-way of any interchange, measured along the interstate or limited-access arterial or collector street from the beginning or ending of pavement widening at the exit from or entrance to the main traveled way.

No off-premises advertising sign or portion thereof shall be permitted within the clear sight triangle at any intersection of a driveway with a street.

(6)

No off-premises advertising sign shall be erected within a 300-foot circumference of the nearest property line of any historic site, school, religious institution, retirement or nursing home, cemetery, government building, community center or public park, playground or recreational area or within 1,000 feet of any existing residential dwelling except where separated from such property by a highway in the Interstate Highway or United States Numbered Highway (U.S. Route) Systems or a utility-owned right-of-way or property on which overhead transmission lines are located.

Number of signs per lot. There shall be no more than one off-premises advertising sign per lot.

Content.

[Amended 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

No off-premises advertising sign shall advertise any adult or sexually oriented businesses or materials, contain any obscene or profane language, emit any verbal announcement or noises of any kind, or otherwise display any content prohibited by 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5903.

Off-premises advertising signs shall not display any moving, flashing, scrolling, fading, brightening or animated text or video.

Lighting.

[Amended 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

Illumination of off-premises advertising signs shall follow the standards and requirements of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and shall be subject to review and approval of the Township. To the extent that there is a conflict between a standard and/or requirements of the IESNA and the provisions of this section, the provisions of this section shall control.

Illumination of all off-premises outdoor advertising signs shall be by external illumination or light-emitting diode (LED) only.

Animated, flashing, revolving, scrolling, rotating and oscillating style signs shall be prohibited.

The copy or image on an LED sign shall not change more than once per minute.

All copy or image changes shall be instantaneous and shall not fade in or out of the digital active area.

(6)

Any external illumination shall be shielded as necessary to direct light onto the sign without spillover on any side of the sign.

(7)

Any resulting glare generated by an off-premises advertising sign shall not exceed 1/8 footcandle, as measures on the ground at the curbline or shoulder, so as not to impair the vision of any motor vehicle driver or otherwise interfere with a driver's operation of his or her motor vehicle.

(8)

An off-premises outdoor advertising sign or its structure shall only be illuminated from dusk until 10:00 p.m. LED signs shall not be operated between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following morning.

Luminance. At no point shall the luminance of any off-premises advertising sign exceed the following:

Off-premises advertising signs using external illumination shall not exceed 1.75 watts per square foot of board face.

LED signs shall not exceed 0.3 footcandle over surrounding ambient light levels.

Lot size. The minimum lot size for a property on which an off-premises advertising sign may be located is 10,000 square feet.

Maintenance of sign.

[Amended 10-18-2022 by Ord. No. 4-260; 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

All off-premises advertising signs shall be structurally sound and maintained in good condition.

If the signs are not structurally sound or maintained in good condition, the signs shall be immediately repaired or removed at the sole cost and expense of the owner of the sign.

If an off-premises advertising sign is not structurally sound or remains in poor condition, the Township shall notify the owner of the property on which the sign is located and provide the owner 60 days' written notice by certified mail, sent to the owner's last known address, to repair or remove the sign.

If the sign is not repaired or removed within 60 days of the date of the notice, the Township may remove the sign, and the cost thereof shall be paid by the owner of the property on which the sign is erected.

The Township may file a lien against the property or take any action permitted by law to collect the cost of removal if it is not paid by the owner of the property.

Sign arrangement.

[Amended 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

When two sign faces are used in a back-to-back arrangement on an off-premises sign, they shall be parallel, directly aligned with each other and not more than five feet apart.

When a V-type sign arrangement is used for two sign faces of any off-premises advertising sign, the sign faces shall not be located more than 15 feet apart at the furthest point, nor shall the interior angle be greater than 45°.

The rear side of any single-face, off-premises advertising sign shall be of one neutral color, which shall be specified in the order of the Board of Supervisors.

Off-premises signs shall be designed and positioned in a manner so that the sign face is not visible (in so far as practicable) from any residential property or any roadway that is not classified as an interstate limited access highway.

Agreement of property owner.

[Amended 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

No part or foundation or support of any off-premises advertising sign shall be placed on, in or over any private property without the written agreement of the property owner.

The agreement shall be presented as part of the application for said sign permit but the consideration or price figures bargained between the private parties may be redacted.

Landscaping.

[Amended 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

Trees greater than four inches in diameter removed for the construction of an off-premises advertising sign shall be replaced on-site at a ratio of one replacement tree for each removed tree using native species no less than three inches in diameter. As part of a conditional use approval, the Board of Supervisors may permit replacement tree to be provided at an alternative off-site location should it be impracticable or infeasible to locate required trees on-site, although preference will be given to using replacement trees as screening material.

A decorative landscaped strip shall be located immediately adjoining every side of the supporting structure of the off-premises advertising sign and extending a minimum of five feet from the supporting structure in all directions.

All landscaping shall be maintained in a good and safe condition. If any approved landscaping is found by the Township to be in poor condition, the Township shall notify the owner of the property on which the sign and landscaping are located and provide the owner 60 days' written notice certified mail, sent to the owner's last known address, to correct the condition of the landscaping to the satisfaction of the Township.

If the condition of the landscaping is not corrected within 60 days of the date of the notice, the Township may perform such work as is necessary to bring the landscaping into a good and safe condition in accordance with the conditional use approval, and the cost thereof shall be paid by the owner of the property on which the sign and landscaping are located.

The Township may file a lien against the property or take any action permitted by law to collect the cost of any corrective action taken by the Township if it is not paid by the owner of the property.

Owner identification.

[Amended 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

All off-premises advertising signs shall be identified on the structure with the name and address of the owner of each sign.

The signs within an area regulated by Chapter 445 of the Pennsylvania Code shall further be identified with a permit number or tag issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Discontinued sign.

[Amended 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 4-262]

An off-premises advertising sign shall be considered a discontinued sign where it has carried no message for a period of 180 consecutive days or where such sign no longer identifies a bona fide business, commodity, service, entertainment or facility or where the majority of the message on such sign has deteriorated to the condition that it is not clearly discernible.

An off-premises advertising sign which has been discontinued shall be presumed to be abandoned and shall constitute an illegal off-premises advertising sign.

Any period of time for which the discontinued use of an off-premises advertising sign is proved to be caused by government actions, labor strikes, material shortages or acts of god, and without any contributing fault of the owner of the sign or user of the sign, shall not be calculated toward the number of days of discontinued use.

Any discontinued off-premises advertising sign shall be removed at the expense of the owner of the sign.