[Amended STM 4-6-1993, Art. 7, approved 7-16-1993; AFTM 11-14-2016, Art. 4, approved 2-17-2017]
A. 
Purpose. One (1) of the purposes of the Sign Review Committee will be to provide advisory recommendation to the Building Commissioner and the Board of Selectmen on their respective decisions to grant permits to certain business signs and to periodically review the existing Sign Bylaw and advise the Board of Selectmen as to desirable modifications.
B. 
Membership. Membership of the Sign Review Committee shall consist of five (5) persons for staggered three-year terms to be appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Preference shall be given so that membership of the Committee will include one (1) person who is an architect, landscape architect, or civil engineer; one (1) person from a community civic group; two (2) business owners; and, one (1) citizen from the Town of Falmouth. The Board of Selectmen may appoint two (2) alternate members of the Sign Review Committee for staggered three-year terms, and the Chairman of the Sign Review Committee may designate any alternate member to sit on the Committee in case of absence, inability to act, or conflict of interest on the part of a regular member, or in the event of a vacancy on the Committee, until said vacancy is filled in the manner in this section.
C. 
Schedule for recommendations. Within twenty-one (21) days of receipt of the application to the Building Commissioner for a sign permit, the Committee shall submit its majority recommendation to the Building Commissioner and the Board of Selectmen if a license is required from the Selectmen.
A. 
No sign shall be erected, displayed, altered or enlarged until an application has been filed and until a permit for such action has been issued. Applications shall be on forms prescribed by the Building Commissioner. At a minimum, all applications shall include a scale drawing specifying dimensions, materials, illumination, letter sizes, colors, support systems and location on land or buildings, with all relevant measurements.
B. 
The Building Commissioner shall act within thirty (30) days of receipt of such application together with the required fee. A written appeal of the Building Commissioner's action can be made, within twenty (20) days of the Building Commissioner's action, to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen shall hold a public hearing within forty-five (45) days of receipt of the written appeal. It shall make a decision within ten (10) days of the close of the hearing. Its majority decision shall be final.
C. 
A sign permit application for signs over eight (8) square feet, and for all signs in any Historic District zone, shall be referred to the Design Review Committee, which shall make recommendations to the Building Commissioner. If the Design Review Committee holds a public meeting, the Building Commissioner's decision may be delayed until forty-five (45) days after receipt of the completed application.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: All signs in Historic Districts must also receive approval from the Historic District Commission.
D. 
The following types of signs shall be authorized by right, without the necessity of a permit:
(1) 
Address signs per § 184-21.
(2) 
"For sale, rent or lease" signs per § 184-24.
(3) 
Political signs per § 184-34.
(4) 
Flags per § 184-30A.
(5) 
Public service signs per §§ 184-32A and 184-36.
(6) 
Window signs per § 184-38.
(7) 
Off-premises directional signs per § 184-32.
(8) 
Contractor sign as per § 184-23.
[Added STM 4-6-1993, Art. 3, approved 7-16-1993]
A schedule of fees for such permits may be established and amended from time to time by the Board of Selectmen. However, fees shall be waived for signs for governmental, religious and nonprofit civic organization uses.
The Building Commissioner is hereby designated as the Sign Code Enforcement Officer and is hereby authorized to enforce this chapter. The Building Commissioner is authorized to order the repair or removal of any sign and its supporting structure which is judged dangerous or in disrepair or which is erected or maintained contrary to this chapter.
[Amended AFTM 11-17-1998, Art. 64, approved 2-25-1999]
A. 
Any sign which has been ordered removed by the Building Commissioner or his/her agent or is abandoned or discontinued shall be removed by the person, firm, trust, realty trust or corporation responsible for the sign within thirty (30) days of written notice to remove.
B. 
In the event the business occupant ceases operation and fails to remove the sign within sixty (60) days, the Building Commissioner shall find that the sign has been abandoned and shall order the property owner to remove the sign.
C. 
Illegal signs shall be subject to the removal provisions of § 184-11.
[Amended ASTM 4-7-1997, Art. 36, approved 6-27-1997]
Violations of any provision of this chapter or any lawful order of the Building Commissioner or his/her agents shall be subject to a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.) per offense. Each day that such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. Enforcement shall be in accordance with Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I, Penalties. The Building Commissioner or his/her agent is authorized to use the noncriminal disposition method, which shall carry the same fines as set forth for violations of Chapter 240, Zoning, in Article I of Chapter 1, General Provisions.
A. 
Sign area shall be the entire area of the sign, bounded by a single continuous line that encloses the extreme limits of the sign surface.
B. 
For a sign applied to a building, the area shall be considered to include all lettering, wording and accompanying designs or symbols, together with any background of a different color than the natural color, or finish material of the building.
C. 
For a sign consisting of individual letters or symbols attached to or painted on a surface, building, wall or window, the area shall be considered to be that of the smallest square, circle, rectangle, triangle or other shape which encompasses all of the letters and symbols. Such signs shall be no greater than three (3) feet in height.
[Amended AFTM 11-17-1998, Art. 64, approved 2-25-1999]
D. 
The area of supporting framework (for example, brackets, posts, etc.) shall not be included in the sign area measurement if such framework is incidental to the display. The area of the supporting framework shall be considered incidental if the total is eight (8) square feet or less. The Design Review Committee shall have the discretion of allowing an additional eight (8) square feet.
[Amended AFTM 11-8-2004, Art. 21, approved 12-30-2004]
E. 
When a sign has two (2) or more faces, the area of all faces shall be included in determining the area, except where two (2) faces are placed back to back and are at no point more than two (2) feet from each other. In this case, the sign shall be taken as the area of either face, and if the faces are unequal, the larger shall determine the area.
The height of any sign shall be measured from the surface of the road up to the highest point of the sign. In situations where a sign is intended to be visible from two (2) roads of different elevations, measurement shall be from the surface of the lower roadway.
A. 
In those rare and particular instances where the strict application of this chapter would be impractical, impossible or create undue hardship, a majority of the Board of Selectmen may permit variances from this chapter. Such variances shall only be permitted when it is determined that the architecture of the building(s), the location of the building(s) with reference to a street or the nature of the use being made of the building(s), is such that a variance would be in the public interest. In granting such variance, the Board of Selectmen shall specify the size and location of the sign(s) and impose such other terms and restrictions as deemed to be in the public interest.
B. 
Applicants seeking a variance from these regulations shall provide the Board of Selectmen with information in the form of perspectives, renderings, photographs, models or other representations sufficient to show the nature of the proposed sign and its effect on the immediate surroundings in addition to the material specified for application under § 184-13.
C. 
The Board of Selectmen shall hold a public hearing within thirty (30) days of receipt of the written variance request. It shall make a written decision within thirty (30) days of the close of the hearing and file said decision with the Town Clerk. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Board of Selectmen, whether or not previously a party to the proceeding, may appeal to a court of competent jurisdiction within twenty-one (21) days after the entry of the decision with the Town Clerk.