18.29.430 Commercial Signs

Commercial signs shall be in accordance with the following regulations: A. Commercial signs shall be limited to the following types subject to the requirements as found in this chapter: 1. Attached signs. 2. Freestanding signs (as approved) a. Low profile and monument signs. b. Freeway oriented signs. c. "Center" signs. d. Pole signs 3. Temporary signs of the types allowed in this chapter. 4. Window signs. 5. Signs specifically approved as part of a Comprehensive or Special Purpose Sign Plan. 6. Limited off premise directional signs. B. Attached on-premise signs may be allowed as follows: 1. Signs may be placed, subject to the standards of this chapter, on any side of a building. However, the total sign area allowed will be based solely on the building front (which shall be that side facing the main street or having the main entry). 2. Size. On-premise attached signs may not exceed a total of two square feet of sign area for each lineal foot of building frontage. The area of any one sign shall not exceed one hundred square feet. 3. When more than one use or business occupies a building, the lineal footage of the building is to be used to calculate the sign sizes for a combined total of all attached signs, not for each use. The total may then be divided between the uses on a percentage of building frontage basis. No business shall be entitled to use more than its proportionate share of the aggregate signs because another business is not using all of it's proportionate share. C. Freestanding commercial signs, except for Shopping Center signs or signs within a Comprehensive or Special Purpose Sign Plan area, shall be low profile signs only and shall be restricted to the following: 1. One sign for each street upon which the lot has frontage. 2. Such signs shall have a maximum area of 96 square feet. 3. Such signs shall have a maximum height of eight feet. 4. Such signs shall not be closer than 30 feet to any residential district. 5. The minimum setback shall be ten feet behind the curb, but shall not be within the street right of way. 6. A monument sign base shall be no less than one-half (1/2) the width of the widest portion of the sign nor greater than one and one-half (1 1/2) times the width of the portion of the sign containing verbiage. 7. Such signs shall be located in landscaped areas. D. Freestanding Sign for Shopping Center or Multi-Tenant Complex: 1. Such signs may be allowed as a Special Exception or as part of a Comprehensive or Special Purpose Sign plan. 2. If submitted as part of a Comprehensive or Special Purpose Sign Plan, such signs shall be subject to that plan. 3. If submitted as a Special Exception: a. Maximum Size of Total Sign Area: i. Total sign area: two hundred Square feet. ii. Tenant sign area to be determined by shopping center or multi-tenant management. However, no tenant may exceed twenty-five percent of the sign area on a shopping center sign provided that sufficient space remains for other current and future tenants. b. Maximum Copy Area Utilization: i. Specified: The maximum copy area that can be utilized at any time is limited to a actual tenant operating in the shopping center or multi-tenant complex. The allocation of copy space to tenants and the content of the utilized copy area are at the discretion of the shopping center management or management of the multi-tenant complex. The unused copy areas provided for future use, as future tenants locate in the center, shall remain without copy. ii. Ancillary Uses or Functions: The ancillary uses or functions in a tenant space do not qualify the tenant for additional copy area utilization. iii. Reduction In Number Of Tenants: When there is a reduction in the number of tenants, the utilized copy area must be reduced to the maximum allowable copy utilization area as determined by the number remaining tenants in the center. Copy area reduction shall take place within ten days of a tenant ceasing operation. c. Maximum Height of Total Sign Structure: thirty-five feet. d. Vertical Clearance: There shall be at least four feet of vertical clear space (excluding the sign poles) measured from the landscaped area to the bottom of the sign copy area. e. Minimum Landscaping: At least one hundred square feet shall surround the sign structure on the shopping center property. Landscaping in the right of way cannot be attributed to the landscape area calculations to fulfill this requirement. f. Location: The entire sign structure, including overhangs, shall be entirely on the shopping center property. No portion of the sign shall be in the public right of way. The sign shall be at least twenty feet from the interior side property line and at least fifty feet from any street corner. E. Freeway Oriented Freestanding Sign. Businesses may request on-premise freeway oriented detached signs as a Special Exception and subject to the requirements as found herein. 1. Must be located on property which is within five hundred feet of the freeway. 2. Sign Area and Height. The area and height limitations shall be determined by the Planning Commission and may exceed the limitations found elsewhere in this chapter. Such determinations shall be based on the location of the property, the nature and size of the use, other uses and similar signs in the area, and the impact to the Gateways to the city. 3. All such signs shall be subject to "adjacent to residential" regulations found elsewhere in this chapter. F. Drive-In Restaurants: 1. In addition to the signs allowed in this section, drive-in restaurants may have one freestanding sign located at least fifty feet from the front and street side property line which conforms to the following standards: a. Total area not exceeding sixty-four square feet. b. Maximum height of eight feet. c. Maximum width of eight feet. 2. Each parking stall covered with a canopy may have one freestanding sign located to the side of the parking stall if the sign conforms to the following standards: a. Each sign area shall not exceed fifteen square feet. b. Maximum height shall not exceed six feet in height as measured from the parking lot pavement surface directly below the sign. c. Maximum width shall not exceed four feet. d. Such signs shall be located on the side of the parking stall, but no closer than three feet from the end of the parking stall. e. No restaurant shall have more than fifty menu signs on the site. (Ord.2009-6, dated 5/12/09)