[Added 2-15-2005 by L.L. No. 3-2005[1]]
The purpose of this article is to establish regulations for the design, construction, installation and maintenance of signs in the Town of Bedford in order to maintain and protect the attractive and harmonious visual image of the community; permit effective identification of businesses to encourage economic prosperity; protect the aesthetic environment from the unrestricted proliferation of signs and visual clutter; protect property values; and protect the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Town of Bedford.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also provided for the renumbering of former §§ 125-116 and 125-117 as §§ 125-117 and 125-118, respectively.
[Amended 5-15-1984; 12-18-1984; 7-7-2015 by L.L. No. 10-2015]
No sign, as defined herein, shall be erected or installed upon or within any structure or upon any land, nor shall any existing sign be changed, until a sign permit has been obtained from the Building Inspector. Issuance of a sign permit shall be conditioned upon conformance with all applicable provisions of this article and the payment to the Building Inspector of a permit fee as provided in § 125-123.1 of this article. All freestanding and bracket signs in the CB District must be approved by the Planning Board. The Planning Board shall consider the relationship of each sign to the safety and convenience of the public. In considering a sign application, the Planning Board shall consider design criteria relating to sign location, size, proportions, scale, materials, texture, color, lettering and illumination in addition to the purposes and other criteria of this article.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to the following classes of signs:
A. 
Signs of or required by duly constituted governmental bodies and their agencies, where such signs are established in the interest of the safety, convenience or welfare of the general public; this shall include traffic signs, legal notices and warnings at railroad crossings. The number and location of such signs shall be as directed by the governmental agency having jurisdiction.
B. 
Flags of the national, state, county or Town government not exceeding 15 square feet; and banners and emblems or name and meeting-place signs of civic, philanthropic, educational or religious organizations or institutions not exceeding 10 square feet.
C. 
Temporary signs located in the Town's public right-of-way in accordance with the provisions of § 125-119.
[Amended 2-15-2005 by L.L. No. 3-2005]
D. 
Memorial plaques, cornerstones, historical tablets and the like.
E. 
Signs required to be maintained or posted by law or governmental order, rule or regulation, unless specifically prohibited, limited or restricted.
F. 
Small, nonilluminated signs, none exceeding one and one-half (1 1/2) square feet in area, displayed strictly for the direction, safety or convenience of the public, including signs which identify rest rooms and other similar facilities or conveniences, parking area entrances or exits and freight entrances, or for purposes of indicating the location or restricting the use of off-street parking areas when these are provided by the owner or occupant of the building.
G. 
Name and address signs, not more than one for each street frontage of each principal use on a lot and not exceeding one square foot in area, showing only the name of the occupant and/or the numerical address designations of the premises on which they are situated.
H. 
Temporary construction signs, not exceeding 12 square feet in area, either affixed to the wall of the building to which they pertain or to a post, identifying the project under construction, participating designers, contractors or developers, etc. Such a sign shall be permitted only during the construction period of the project and shall conform in all respects to the provisions of § 125-121 of this article.
I. 
Signs not visible outside of a building.
J. 
Signs displayed in a window indicating the availability of a public telephone or notary public and/or the possession of any licenses normally required to conduct a given business.
K. 
Holiday decorations displayed in season.
L. 
Temporary signs for tag or garage sales, provided that such signs contain the address of the seller and date of the sale, are displayed only two days prior to the sale and are removed the day after the sale.
[Amended 2-15-2005 by L.L. No. 3-2005]
M. 
"No trespassing" signs.
[Added 2-15-2005 by L.L. No. 3-2005[1]]
A. 
Temporary signs are those related to a single activity or event, explicitly indicated by a finite date or reasonably implied date, which are displayed for short periods of time, such as signs displayed during campaigns, drives or events of civic, political, philanthropic, educational or religious institutions. Unless specified otherwise below, all temporary signs shall be limited in usage to a maximum of 30 consecutive days prior to the event date. Signs shall not be considered temporary if they are effectively displayed on an ongoing basis, interrupted by short intervals when they are not displayed, or relocated within the Town of Bedford. Temporary signs announcing or supporting political candidates or issues related to any national, state or local election, are permitted for a maximum of 30 consecutive days prior to the date of such election, not to include early voting dates.
[Amended 11-1-2022 by L.L. No. 17-2022]
B. 
Temporary signs must be removed by the individual or organization posting such temporary signs within three days after the event for which they are displayed.
C. 
If such temporary signs are not removed within the three-day period, the Code Enforcement Officer or his or her designee is authorized to remove said signs and to charge all costs incident to the removal of the sign or signs to the organization responsible for the placement of the signs.
D. 
Temporary signs shall not be attached to fences, trees, utility poles, bridges or traffic signs and shall not obstruct or impair vision or traffic in any manner or create a hazard or disturbance to the health and welfare of the general public.
E. 
No temporary sign shall exceed twelve square feet in area, except banners, which may not exceed 30 feet.
F. 
No temporary signs may be located in the Town right-of-way in the Historic Districts as designated in Chapter 71 of the Town Code or in Historic Downtown Bedford Hills as defined in Appendix A hereto.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Appendix A, a map depicting the boundaries of Historic Downtown Bedford Hills, is included as an attachment to this chapter.
G. 
Temporary signs for farms located within the Town advertising the selling of products grown or raised on the property where such farm is located shall be permitted, subject to the following conditions:
[Added 10-18-2011 by L.L. No. 9-2011]
(1) 
Not more than three signs for any farm shall be permitted, one of which shall be located within the frontage of the farm property.
(2) 
The size of each sign shall not be greater than six square feet in area.
(3) 
No sign shall be located in front of a property without the written permission of the property owner on which the sign is to be located.
(4) 
Signs for farms may be displayed only from May 1 through October 31.
(5) 
Signs for farms may be displayed from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. but must be removed at the end of each day.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also provided for the renumbering of former § § 125-118 through 125-123 as § § 125-120 through 125-123.1, respectively.
[Amended 1-20-1987; 7-7-2015 by L.L. No. 10-2015]
A. 
The total area of all signs, except window signs (Type D), erected on the lot shall not exceed 1 1/2 square feet for each horizontal linear foot of the facade of the establishment. If the building has multiple frontage, an additional sign area of one square foot for each linear foot of such additional frontage shall be allowed as long as such additional sign area appears on that side of the building which gives rise to the multiple frontage.
B. 
The following is a listing of the various types of signs which are permitted by this article. The type of sign permitted for each use category is indicated in the Schedule of Permitted Signs located as an attachment to this chapter. The basic requirements for each type of sign are given below; these may be further limited in the schedule for a particular use or zoning district.
(1) 
Type A: flat wall signs (signs attached rigidly to, or painted on a wall of a building). A flat wall sign may be located anywhere on any wall of a building, provided that it shall not conceal any part of a window, that its length shall not exceed 7/8 of the facade of the establishment and that it shall not be higher than the wall of the building to which it is attached. No such sign shall contain any letter, number or symbol which is more than 12 inches in height unless the wall upon which it is affixed is more distant than 100 feet from the center line of the nearest road from which such sign can be readily observed, in which case the letters, numbers and/or symbols will be allowed up to a maximum height of 24 inches.
(2) 
Type B: projecting signs (signs hung from a bracket attached to a wall of a building). A projecting sign shall not extend beyond the curbline nor more than 50 inches, exclusive of any supporting structure, from the wall of a building. A projecting sign shall not be less than 10 feet from the ground level at the base of the building or a lesser distance so long as public safety is not endangered nor more than 25 feet from the ground level to the top of the sign. Such a sign shall not extend above the building nor be more than 12 square feet in size.
(3) 
Type C: freestanding signs (signs rigidly mounted or hung from a bracket on a structure or post set in the ground). A freestanding sign may not exceed 25 square feet in area and may not extend more than 15 feet above the ground level to the top of the sign. In the CB District, any freestanding sign may not exceed 20 square feet in area and may not extend more than four feet above the ground level to the top of the sign.
(4) 
Type D: window sign. A sign displayed, affixed or painted on or within any window, show window or window screen. The aggregate area of all such signs shall not cover more than 20% of the glass area of the window in which they are located.
(5) 
Type E: direction signs. Necessary direction signs, none of which shall exceed two square feet in area or be more than eight feet above the ground level at the highest point of the sign.
(6) 
Type F: announcement sign. A sign announcing the name of the occupant and his profession or the type of services offered. The sign shall not exceed one square foot in area. The announcement sign may be attached to the building or hung from a bracket or post. Where more than one public entrance to a building is maintained by an occupant, one additional announcement sign may be maintained at each entrance other than the one where the principal sign or signs are placed.
[Amended 7-7-2015 by L.L. No. 10-2015]
The following regulations apply to all types of signs in all zoning districts:
A. 
"Sign area" is the area which results by multiplying the outside dimensions of a sign. The vertical, horizontal or diagonal supports which may affix the sign to the ground or to a building or structure shall not be included in determining these dimensions, unless such supports are clearly a part of the message of the sign. Where the sign consists of individual letters or symbols attached to or painted on a building, the area shall be considered to be that of the smallest single rectangle which encompasses all of the letters or symbols. Where the sign consists of multiple plaques or parts, the sign area shall be the total area of all such parts, measured as stated above. The area of all signs that can be seen from more than one side shall be considered to be the area of the largest side on which the message appears.
B. 
Illumination. In those zoning districts where illumination of signs is permitted in the Schedule of Permitted Signs,[1] illuminated signs shall conform to the standards of § 125-41 of this chapter.
(1) 
Such illumination shall be from indirect or internal light sources. In the CB District, illumination shall be only from indirect light sources. The source of illumination shall be so shielded that it is not visible beyond the boundaries of the lot on which it is located.
(2) 
Illumination of signs, where permitted, shall be permitted only until 10:00 p.m. local time or closing time, whichever is earlier.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter.
C. 
Relationship to a permitted use. All signs must pertain to a use conducted on the same property on which they are located, except signs of service groups and religious institutions.
D. 
Setbacks. All signs shall comply with the setbacks for principal buildings of the district in which they are located, except that Type A and Type B signs may be located within required setbacks.
[Amended 7-7-2015 by L.L. No. 10-2015]
The use, erection or installation of the following sign types is prohibited:
A. 
Roof signs.
B. 
Flashing or intermittently illuminated signs. A sign which exhibits changing light or color effects, even though the intensity of light may be relatively constant, shall be deemed a flashing sign.
C. 
Signs where the source of illumination is visible, including neon-type or LED-type electric signs except where such signs are less than two square feet in area and mounted on the inside of the window of a building.
D. 
Searchlights to attract attention to a sign or permitted use.
E. 
Strings of incandescent lights.
F. 
Moving or rotating signs.
G. 
Pennants, streamers or other eye-catching devices.
H. 
Signs on awnings.
I. 
Portable signs, with or without wheels, easel type, A-frame or other. Any sign not permanently affixed to a building or the ground.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 125-122, Waiver of requirements, was repealed 5-15-1984.
Every sign which is made nonconforming by this chapter or which existed as nonconforming prior to the adoption of this chapter shall be discontinued and removed or changed to conform to the standards of this chapter within a period of three years from the date of the adoption of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 125-123, Sign permit, was repealed 5-15-1984. See now § 125-123.1, Fees.
[Amended 5-15-1984]
Every applicant for a sign permit, before being granted such permit, shall pay to the Building Inspector a fee as listed in the fee schedule adopted by the Town Board.