[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
