For the purposes of this chapter, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to
them by this section:
ADVERTISING SIGN
A sign which provides information in addition to the name
and address of the occupant therein or utilizes a trademark.
ANIMATED SIGN
A sign which has its illumination maintained at a constant
intensity at the source of such illumination, and the animation is
created by other means than the increase or decrease of the intensity
at its source.
AWNING
A roof-like cover that may be temporary or permanent in nature
and projects from the wall of a building for the purposes of shielding
a doorway or window or providing decorative or architectural detail
for nonresidential buildings. Unless otherwise specified in this chapter,
permanent awnings that cannot be retracted shall be subject to the
setback requirements of the district in which the building is located.
AWNING SIGN
A sign that is painted or attached to an awning. Awning signs
shall be permanent in nature and not retractable.
BANNER
Any lightweight plastic, fabric or other material, whether
or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire
or string, or otherwise affixed to the structure or erected in any
manner on the property.
[Added 6-21-2005 by Ord. No. 2005:14]
BILLBOARD
See definition for "sign, off-premises."
[Amended 9-12-2006 by Ord. No. 2006:19]
DIRECTIONAL SIGN
A sign containing directional information about public places
owned or operated by federal, state or local governments or their
agencies; publicly or privately owned natural phenomena, historic,
cultural, scientific, educational and religious sites; and areas of
natural beauty or naturally suited to outdoor recreation. Signs containing
directional information whose purpose it is to regulate and control
the flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
ERECT
To construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach,
create, paint, draw or in any other way bring into being or establish,
but not any of the foregoing activities when performed as an incident
to the change of advertising message or normal maintenance or repair
of a sign or sign structure.
FLAG SIGN
A sign that is mounted on a freestanding pole or other support,
made of cloth, canvas, fabric or like material, designed or intended
to advertise, identify or attract attention to a business organization,
service or event.
FLASHING SIGN
A flashing sign is a sign, the illumination of which is not
kept constant in intensity at all times when in use.
FREESTANDING SIGN
Any sign supported by structures or supports that are placed
on, or anchored in, the ground and that are independent from any building
or other structure.
HANGING SIGN
A sign designed to hang from a building canopy, awning, awning
sign or a frame or other mechanical device attached to a building
wall and oriented at a 90° angle from the plane of the building
facade. Permitted hanging signs and associated design standards for
such signs are depicted in Illustration E of this chapter.
IDENTIFICATION SIGN
A sign, which states the name or address of the occupant
therein or identifies a place or development.
ILLUMINATED SIGN
Any sign which has characters, letters, figures, designs
or outline illuminated by electric lights or luminous tubes or similar
as a part of the sign.
LOGO
An insignia, emblem or registered trademark used to identify
a company or business.
MAINTENANCE
Includes replacement, without substantial change, of any
parts or support of any sign, and the painting, without change of
text, design or size of any sign, without removal of the sign from
the wall or structure supporting it.
MARQUEE
Any hood or awning of permanent construction projecting from
the wall of a building above an entrance and extending over a thoroughfare,
including signs attached thereto, the supports of which are an integral
part of the original structure, and which is not retractable.
MEMORIAL SIGNS
Historical tablets, cornerstones, memorial plaques and emblems
which do not exceed six square feet in surface area and which are
installed under the auspices of public or quasi-public bodies and
religious organizations.
MONUMENT SIGN
Any sign, other than a pole sign, place upon or supported
by the ground, independent of any other structure.
NAMEPLATE SIGN
A sign which states the name or address of the occupant where
the sign is located.
PENNANT
Any lightweight plastic, fabric, or other material, whether
or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire
or string, usually in a series, designed to move in the wind.
PERSON
Any individual, association, partnership, firm or corporation.
PROFESSIONAL SIGN
A sign listing only the name and profession of each resident
practitioner.
PORTABLE SIGN
Any sign not permanently attached to the ground or other
permanent structure, or a sign designed to be transported, including
but not limited to signs designed to be transported by means of wheels;
signs converted to A- or T-frames; menu and sandwich board signs;
balloons used as signs; umbrellas used for advertising; and signs
attached to or painted on vehicles parked and visible from the public
right-of-way, unless said vehicle is used in the normal day-to-day
operations of the business for transport.
PROJECTING SIGN
Any sign affixed to a building or wall in such a manner that
its leading edge extends more than six inches beyond the surface of
such building or wall.
ROOF SIGN
A sign constructed or supported upon the roof of any building
or structure.
SIGN
A name, identification, description, display or illustration
which is affixed to or printed, painted or represented directly or
indirectly upon a building, structure, window or parcel of land and
which directs attention to a person, institution, organization, activity,
place, object or product of business, provided that the display of
public notices or the flag, emblem or insignia of a nation or political
unit shall not be considered signs under the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended 5-14-2019 by Ord. No. 2019:20]
SIGN, OFF-PREMISES
A sign structure advertising an establishment, merchandise,
service or entertainment, which is not sold, produced, manufactured
or furnished at the property on which said sign is located; e.g.,
”billboards” or ”outdoor advertising.” Off-premises
signs are considered a principal use.
[Added 9-12-2006 by Ord. No. 2006:19]
STRUCTURE OF SIGN
Any structure which supports or is capable of supporting
any sign or signs.
TEMPORARY SIGN
A sign which is intended to advertise community or civic
projects, real estate for sale or lease, or other sale or special
events on a temporary basis.
WALL SIGN
All flat signs of solid-face construction which are placed
against a building or other structure and attached to the exterior
front, rear or side wall of any building or other structure so that
the display surface is parallel with the plane of the wall. Signs
painted on an exterior or a wall shall be deemed to be "wall signs"
subject to this chapter.
WINDOW
Includes any opening in the exterior wall or roof of any
structure for the purpose of admitting air or light, whether or not
covered with glass, plastic or other covering.
WINDOW DISPLAY SIGN
Shall include all signs defined herein which are situated
within six feet of the window surface, and such signs shall be regulated
as provided herein.
[Amended 5-14-2019 by Ord. No. 2019:20]
WINDOW SPACE
Includes the aggregate square footage of all windows on any
given side and any given story of any structure, regardless of the
angle or angles at which they are set. In computing window space,
there shall be included all portions of any door which contains a
window.
The following signs, limited to one per parcel,
shall not require permits or the payment of fees, but are subject
to the other provisions of this chapter.
A. Professional nameplate and home occupation signs indicating
the name and profession of the occupant of a dwelling, provided that
such signs do not exceed one square foot. The signs shall not be lighted
outside of posted business hours.
B. Temporary signs inside windows of commercial establishments not covering
more than 20% of any given window and which shall be removed within
30 days of the date of erection, which date shall be indicated thereon
in a prominent manner. Where multiple windows are present along a
building facade, no more than 20% of any individual window may be
obstructed by such temporary sign or signs. These signs shall not
unreasonably obstruct light and visibility. No additional temporary
sign may be permitted for a period of 30 days following the removal
of the prior temporary sign.
[Amended 5-14-2019 by Ord. No. 2019:20]
C. Directional signs not exceeding 16 square feet, containing
directional information about public places owned or operated by federal,
state, county or local governments or their agencies; publicly owned
natural phenomena; historic, cultural, scientific, educational and
religious sites; and areas of natural beauty or naturally suited to
outdoor recreation.
D. Bulletin boards not over 24 square feet in area for
public, charitable or religious institutions, when they are located
on the premises of such institutions.
E. Signs denoting the architect, engineer or contractor,
when placed upon work under construction and not exceeding 16 square
feet in area, and which are to be removed within 10 days after the
issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
F. Memorial signs or tablets, names of buildings and
dates of erection, when cut into any masonry surface or when constructed
of bronze or other durable material, not to exceed six square feet
of surface area.
G. Any signs forbidding trespassing, hunting, fishing
or trapping as authorized by the fish and game laws, not to exceed
two square feet.
H. Temporary signs indicating a political preference
or a political event, provided that such signs do not exceed 32 square
feet in area on any one surface. The signs shall be removed within
15 days after the completion of the political function. Nothing herein
shall be deemed to permit the erection or installation of any political
signs upon any pole, tree or in a public right-of-way, and their erection
or installation is hereby specifically prohibited. This section shall
not be deemed to prohibit temporary lawn signs or street banners as
set forth elsewhere in this chapter.
I. Name and number plates, identifying the residents,
on a house, apartment or mailbox, not to exceed 60 square inches.
J. Garage sale signs located on the premises only, not
exceeding two square feet, and containing the date of sale, and which
sign shall be removed within 24 hours after the last day of sale.
K. Temporary signs advertising the sale or rental of
the premises upon which it is situated, provided that such signs do
not exceed four square feet, and which shall be removed when the purpose
of the sign is fulfilled. Balloons may only be attached to signs
permitted at the premises on weekends and legal holidays, a list of
which is kept on file in the Zoning Department. Open house signs
and directional signs to the open house shall also be permitted in
the public right-of-way at the closest intersections to the property
on weekends and legal holidays only. A violation of the open house
signs and directional signs to the open house provisions, regardless
of whether posted by a realtor or homeowner, shall result in a warning
for the first offense. A second offense shall be punishable, upon
conviction, by a fine of $250 per sign. The person or company to
whom the sign belongs shall be held responsible for any and all penalties
associated with the sign.
[Amended 4-11-2006 by Ord. No. 2006:03]
M. Signs erected to control the movement of traffic on
premises, provided these signs shall provide traffic directions only
and shall not be used for any advertising purpose. These signs shall
not exceed four square feet in area and shall have been approved by
the appropriate approving authority.
N. Traffic or other municipal signs, legal notices, railroad
crossing signs, danger signs and such temporary, emergency or nonadvertising
signs, or signs of any governmental agency deemed necessary to the
public welfare.
O. Flags of the United States, State of New Jersey or
other governmental or quasi-public agencies.
P. Holiday decorations and lights on residential premises.
The following shall be prohibited:
A. Signs mounted on cars, trailers or platforms, A-type
signs, sidewalk signs, sandwich signs, curb signs, portable and mobile-type
signs erected on trailers, or similar advertising devices.
[Amended 9-12-2006 by Ord. No. 2006:19]
B. Projecting signs which extend more than 18 inches
from the wall of a building and all roof signs.
C. Signs visible from the street using the word "stop"
or "danger" or any other word, phrase, symbol or character with the
intent of simulating a public safety warning or traffic sign.
D. Signs other than officially authorized signs tacked,
pasted, painted or otherwise attached to poles, posts, trees, fences,
sidewalks or curbs.
E. No sign other than official traffic control devices
or street signs shall be erected within or encroach upon the right-of-way
of any street unless specifically authorized by other ordinances or
regulations of the Township.
F. Rotating or moving signs.
G. Signs within 100 feet of an historic building, site
or monument.
H. Signs shall not be painted on or affixed to water
towers, storage tanks, smokestacks or similar structures.
I. Signs exceeding 20% of any individual window, except as provided for in §
430-280B and §
430-280E.
[Amended 5-14-2019 by Ord. No. 2019:20]
J. Signs painted on the surface of a building.
The following signs shall be permitted in the
RCW, R-R, R-1, R-1M, R-2, R-2M, R-3, R-3 and 3A (RCA), R-4, R-5, AHD-1&2,
APRD-2, PRD and PRD-2 Districts:
A. Temporary signs advertising the sale, rental or development
of a lot or premises shall be permitted, provided that:
(1) Not more than one sign shall be erected on any one
street frontage.
(2) No one side of a sign shall exceed four square feet
in area.
(3) No sign shall be located closer than 10 feet to a
street.
(4) No sign shall be illuminated in any manner.
(5) No sign shall exceed five feet in height.
B. Other signs are permitted in accordance with the following
regulations:
(1) One residential nameplate sign, situated within the
property lines and not exceeding one square foot.
(2) One sign advertising a farm or nursery activity, situated
not less than 20 feet from any street or property line and not exceeding
six square feet in area on any one side.
(3) One sign located on the premises of and identifying
a public building, playground, community center, quasi-public building,
church or other similar uses and not exceeding 20 square feet in area
on any one surface and located not less than 10 feet from any lot
line.
(4) One sign to identify a permitted home occupation or professional office, which does not exceed one square foot on any one side. (Except AHD-1&2 Districts; see §
430-250.)
(5) Identifying signs for garden apartments shall not exceed 24 square feet and shall not exceed eight feet in height or six feet in width. The sign shall be a permanent structure and shall not be located less than 10 feet from the lot lines. (Except AHD-1&2 Districts; see §
430-250.)
The following signs shall be permitted in the
B-3, B-4, B-5 and O-S Districts.
A. Temporary signs advertising the sale, rental or development
of a lot shall be permitted, provided that:
(1) No more than one such sign shall be permitted per
street frontage.
(2) No one surface of such sign shall exceed 16 square
feet in area.
(3) No such sign shall exceed eight feet in height.
(4) No such sign shall be located less than 10 feet from
any lot line.
(5) No such sign shall be illuminated in any manner.
B. Signs attached to buildings shall be permitted as
follows:
(1) One sign only shall be permitted to be attached to
the main building identifying or advertising a business conducted
on the premises and shall be subject to the following regulations:
(a)
Such sign shall be restricted to the front wall
area.
(b)
No sign shall exceed 1.5 square feet in area
for each one-foot linear width of the front building wall on which
the sign is to be located, provided that no sign may exceed 75% of
the front wall of the storefront that is occupied and further provided
that no sign shall exceed 100 square feet in total area.
(c)
With the exception of awning signs as set forth in §
430-288B(5), such sign shall not project more than 18 inches from the building facade to which it is attached, and where a sign does extend more than three inches from the face of the wall, the bottom edge of the sign shall not be less than 10 feet from the ground.
(d)
Such sign shall not have a vertical dimension
in excess of three feet.
(2) No sign shall be higher than 25 feet from the ground.
(3) Such sign may be internally lighted with nonglaring
lights or may be illuminated by shielded floodlights.
(4) One additional identifying sign shall be permitted
for a business which fronts on two or more streets. The second permitted
sign may be no more than 75% of the size of the first permitted sign.
(5) Awnings and awning signs.
(a)
Awning signs, as permitted herein, shall be
subject to the area and dimension requirements listed in Illustration
D.
(b)
Awnings shall be limited to one solid color.
(c)
In cases of multi-tenanted buildings, all awnings
shall be the same color, size and style.
(d)
Awning signs may project into the front and
side yard setbacks but only to the extent provided in Illustration
D.
(e)
The area permitted for awning signs shall be in addition to the total area permitted for wall signs as specified in §
430-288B(1)(b).
(f)
Awning signs shall be mounted on the wall facing
the primary street frontage.
(g)
An awning sign shall not extend closer than
six inches from the edge of a building, except that when a building
is located at the corner of two or more streets, the awning may wrap
around the corner of the building as part of a single continuous awning.
(h)
An awning shall not extend closer than four
feet to the inside edge of the curb along the street.
(i)
Awning signs shall be located no higher than
the first floor level of a building.
(j)
Sign text shall be permitted only on the front
valance of an awning sign and company logos may be permitted on the
roof of the awning as specified below:
[1]
No more than two awnings may be used for valance
signs or logo signs on any building wall.
[2]
Where valance signs are used, logo signs may
only be located on the awning roof that has the valance sign.
[3]
Valance signs shall display only the name of
the business occupying that space as it is recorded on the certificate
of occupancy.
[4]
Text for valance signs shall not exceed six
inches high, and may not exceed a length of two-thirds the total length
of the awning.
[5]
Logos shall not exceed six square feet in area
as measured as a rectangle around the limits of the logo.
[6]
All awning signage shall be limited to two colors,
exclusive of the background of the awning.
[7]
Awning signs shall not be illuminated.
[8]
All awning signs must be located on fixed, nonretractable
awnings.
[9]
Awnings attached to a building shall be permitted
to extend a maximum of three feet into the front yard setback.
(6) Hanging signs.
(a)
Hanging signs are permitted in the B-5 District
subject to the area and dimension requirements listed in Illustration
E.
(b)
Hanging signs may project into the front and
side yard setbacks, but only to the extent provided in Illustration
E.
(c)
The maximum area for a hanging sign shall be
four square feet.
(d)
When attached to an awning or awning sign, the area permitted for hanging signs shall be in addition to the total area permitted for wall and awning signs as specified in §
430-288B(1)(b) and
B(5)(a).
(e)
Only hanging signs that are attached to an awning
or awning sign as shown in Illustration E may be located below an
awning or awning sign. Hanging signs attached to the building facade
may not be located below an awning or awning sign. Hanging signs are
permitted above awnings or awning signs as shown in Illustration E.
(f)
One hanging sign shall be permitted for each
first floor business or commercial use.
(g)
Hanging signs may not be internally illuminated.
(h)
A hanging sign may not extend beyond the front
edge of any awning or awning sign.
(i)
The lettering on hanging signs shall be no more
than six inches in height.
(j)
Hanging signs shall be designed and constructed
as either painted signs on metal or wood, incised or carved lettering
on wood background, or individual letters arranged on painted wood
or metal backgrounds. Flashing, oscillating and moving signs; boxed
or fluorescent signs; and formed plastic signs are not permitted.
C. Freestanding signs shall be permitted as follows:
(1) No more than one freestanding sign shall be permitted
on any one street frontage.
(2) No one surface of any such sign shall exceed 25 square
feet in area.
(3) Such signs shall be no higher than 15 feet or the
height of the principal building, whichever is the lesser. The maximum
width of any one side of the sign shall not exceed six feet, and the
bottom of the sign shall not be closer than eight feet to the ground
level of the sign.
(4) No freestanding sign shall be located closer than
15 feet to any property line, with the exception of B-5 Zones, which
may be 10 feet.
(5) Such signs may be internally lighted with nonglaring
lights or may be illuminated by shielded floodlights.
(6) Such signs shall identify or advertise only such businesses
as are conducted on the premises.
(7) There shall be a minimum frontage of 50 feet to permit
a freestanding sign.
D. Miscellaneous regulations.
(1) The total area of all signs on site shall not exceed
50 square feet per 10,000 square feet of lot size devoted to business.
(2) Only one of the signs permitted in the districts shall
be allowed to be used for advertising purposes.
E. Gasoline station signage. Gasoline station signage shall be permitted pursuant to the regulations set forth in §
430-287A(6).
The following signs shall be permitted in the
O-T, ROL, POD, COD, SED and LIW Districts:
A. All temporary and building identification signs as permitted in §
430-287 shall be permitted, except that only one such sign shall be permitted.
B. Freestanding signs shall be permitted as follows:
(1) No freestanding or monument style sign shall exceed
10 feet in height, the maximum width of any one side of the sign shall
not exceed 15 feet, and such signs shall not exceed 64 square feet
in area.
(2) Such signs shall be set back 20 feet from the property
line.
(3) One such sign shall be permitted; except that one
directional sign shall be permitted per site entrance road, set back
10 feet minimum from the property line, and shall not exceed four
square feet, and shall be positioned at or near the subject development's
site entrance road.
Appeals in writing may be taken from the action
of the Zoning Officer within 65 days after the date of such action.