Sec. 24-555. Sign standards for commercial and industrial districts.
(a) District provisions. In all commercial and industrial districts, the following signs are permitted, subject to the requirements set forth in this article.
(b) Permitted signs and restrictions.
(1) All signs and nameplates permitted in residential districts.
(2) Business signs, as regulated by this article.
(3) Signs on marquees, canopies, and awnings, subject to the following:
a. Marquees and canopies. No sign shall extend vertically or horizontally beyond the limits of the marquee or canopy. Marquees and canopies shall have headroom of not less than eight (8) feet. One sign per entrance, which shall not exceed six (6) square feet per sign.
b. Awnings. Any sign located on an awning shall be affixed flat to the awning surface, shall be nonilluminated and nonflashing, and shall indicate only the name and/or address of the establishment on the premises. Further, no such sign shall extend vertically or horizontally beyond the limits of the awning. Awnings shall have headroom clearance of not less than eight (8) feet. Signs located on awnings shall not cover more than twenty-five (25) percent of the awning.
(4) Directional signs. One each for the principal and secondary accesses to the zoning lot and a maximum of two (2) square feet for each sign.
(5) Window signs, painted, posted, or displayed by any other means in a window may not occupy more than twenty-five (25) percent of the gross window area, nor more than fifty (50) percent of an individual window area, when combined with temporary window signs. The area of permanent window signs shall be included in the calculations of the total area of permanent signs permitted on the zoning lot.
(6) Flowing information signs. Electric signs giving the time and/or temperature are permitted subject to all other requirements of this article. This type of sign must be incorporated into the primary sign, notwithstanding the restrictions of the zoning district.
(7) Temporary signs are regulated by section 24-558.
(8) Billboards. A billboard shall not be permitted within six hundred (600) feet of a residential district, street intersection, or railroad crossing. There shall be a minimum of one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet between billboards on the same side of a street or highway, and billboards shall not be closer than twenty (20) feet to a dedicated right-of-way, nor closer than ten (10) feet from the side or rear property line. A billboard shall not be permitted within four hundred (400) feet of an existing building. It shall not contain advertising space in excess of three hundred (300) square feet of display area per side. It shall not exceed twenty-five (25) feet in height above road grade, shall not exceed twenty-five (25) feet in width, and shall have a minimum ground clearance of ten (10) feet and must be supported by a single steel pole. A billboard may be permitted in a C-2 zoning district and industrial zoning districts by special exception only. The billboard permit, once issued, shall be subject to annual renewal upon payment of the permit fee and review by the building commissioner for continued compliance with this article.
(c) Commercial development advertising signs.
(1) If an advertising sign is erected in connection with a development as a whole or in combination with a development of two (2) or more lots, said sign shall be removed upon the sale, renting, or leasing of ninety-five (95) percent of the development space. The owner/developer shall have thirty (30) days to remove the sign upon notice from the Town.
(2) A sign in this category shall not exceed fifty (50) square feet per side.
(3) Height and construction standards shall conform to the restrictions of the zoning district in which the sign is located.
(d) Commercial center identification signs. Each commercial center consisting of four (4) or more retail business uses which occupy separate spaces within a multi-activity building or group of buildings comprising an integrated commercial center may have one such sign identifying the uses subject to the following:
(1) The sign must be a ground sign;
(2) The sign will not apply against other sign area restrictions;
(3) The sign area is limited to fifty (50) square feet per side; and
(4) The height of the sign shall not exceed the predominant height of the building to which it relates or ten (10) feet above the curb level, whichever is lower.
(e) Area, location, and height requirements. In all commercial districts, the permitted signs are subject to the following:
(1) Area.
a. Total. The gross combined area of all permanent ground, wall and window signs on a zoning lot shall not exceed one hundred (100) square feet.
b. Ground and monument signs. The area of permanent ground signs shall not exceed thirty (30) square feet per zoning lot.
c. Wall signs and permanent window signs. The area, in square feet, of a permanent wall sign, combined with permanent window signs, shall not exceed the lineal feet of frontage of a business.
d. Exception. Each business shall be entitled to a maximum area of fifty (50) square feet for permanent wall signs combined with permanent window signs, provided that each single tenant shall be allowed a maximum of thirty (30) square feet of such signage. The maximum of fifty (50) square feet shall apply to a multiple tenant business.
(2) Number of signs.
a. Total. Each business shall be permitted a maximum of two (2) permanent signs, not including permanent window signs.
b. Ground and monument signs. Only one permanent ground sign shall be permitted on a zoning lot.
c. Wall signs. Each business shall be permitted a maximum of two (2) wall signs, with no more than one sign per wall. If there are two wall signs, no ground sign shall be permitted.
d. Multiple tenant buildings. In multiple tenant buildings, one wall sign shall be permitted for each business or professional use and only affixed on the first story of the building.
(3) Location of signs. All signs shall be located entirely within the zoning lot of the business to which it applies. All signs shall front either the principal street, parking street, a parking area, or the side street in the case of corner buildings.
(4) Projection. Signs may project two (2) feet from the face of the building but shall not project into the public way, and the bottom of such signs shall not be less than eight (8) feet above the finished grade of the sidewalk.
(5) Height. No sign shall project higher than ten (10) feet above the curb level, or above the roof, or shall exceed the height of the principal building to which it relates, whichever is lower. No sign projecting or suspended from a building shall exceed twelve (12) feet in vertical dimension and its location and arrangement shall be subject to approval by the building commissioner.
(f) Content required. Identification. The name and/or identification logo/trademark of a business shall be placed on all permanent signs.