HomeMy Public PortalAbout1996_10_08_O029 The Town of
Leesburg,
Virginia
PRESENTED October
ADOPTED October
1996
Ordinance No. 9 6- 0 ~ 2 9 19 9 6
AN ORDINANCE: AMENDING THE TOWN CODE REGARDING PROJECTIONS
OVER STREET RIGHTS-OF-WAY
WHEREAS, the Ad Hoc Downtown Sign Committee reported their final
recommendations to Council on March 26, 1996, and
WHEREAS, there was a concern that existing regulations may be too restrictive on
downtown businesses; and
WHEREAS, it was suggested that amending the Town Code section regarding
projections over street rights-of-way would alleviate some concerns:
THEREFORE, ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia as
follows:
Section I. Article II of the Leesburg Town Code is amended as shown below:
ARTICLE II. PROJECTIONS O\m~R~ ~.,~,~ ~cqr~cl~'V -~--~-..,-~,-. ~l>Tt'-TJ~l'e nc'.., llrAV,,,~. STREET GRAPHICS,
FLAGS, SANDWICH BOARD SIGNS AND WALL BOARD SIGNS, OVER
AND UPON STREET RIGHT OF WAY'S
Section 16-27. Permit required; compliance with Article.
Except as otherwise provided, it shall be unlawful for any person to erect or maintain any
street graphics, awning, canopy, balcony or any object projecting over any public right-of-way
of the town until and unless a permit therefor shall have first been obtained from the town
manager, and then only under the terms and conditions as set forth in this article. Permits
shall be subject to yearly renewal in order to ensure the projecting graphic is maintained in a
clean, neat, safe and orderly appearance.
A permit shall not be required for the following graphics or actions, but such graphics shall be
subject to all other provisions of this article:
(1) Repainting of graphics without changing wording, composition or colors;
(2) Relocation of graphics as required by the town;
(3) All exempt graphics.
TOWN CODE - DOWNTOWN SIGNAGE 2
Section 16-28. Permit applications and plans.
A projection or wail board sign permit may be obtained upon application and payment of the
required fee to the town manager on forms prescribed by him. Applications shall include plans
of the proposed projection with its size, shape, height, location, letter style, lighting, color,
construction and materiais and specifications detailed thereon. If the proposed projection or
wall board sign is to be located within an historic conservation district, a certificate of
appropriateness shail be issued by the Board of Architectural Review prior to the issuance of a
permit by the town manager. The Board of Architectural Review will independently develop
8pecific design policy which addresses appearance, material and sign copy, and restrictions on
display times. Any projection or wall board sign permit issued by the town manager within
the historic conservation district will comply with the standards established by the Board of
Architectural Review.
Section 16-29.
The fees for permits under this article, to be collected by the town manager before the
issuance of a permit for any new projection over any public right-of-way, are as follows:
Buildings, or parts thereof $ 25.00
Graphics 15.00
Section 16-30. Liability for damage.
The provisions of this article shall not be construed to relieve or to limit in any way the
responsibility or liability of any person who owns or erects any projecting object for personai
injury or property damage caused by the projecting object; nor shail the provisions of this
article be construed to impose upon the town, its officers and its employees, any responsibility
or liability by reason of the approvai of any projecting object under the provisions of this
article.
Section 16-31. Abandoned street graphics.
Any person who owns a graphic shail remove the legend from it within 30 days atter the
activity it advertises is no longer conducted and remove the graphic within six months atter
the activity it advertises is no longer conducted.
Section 16-32. Unlawful projections.
Except as provided herein, any projecting object previously or hereafter erected or maintained
in violation of this article shail be removed by the owner within ten days after receipt of
written notification from the town manager. If the owner fails to remove the object within the
time specified, the town manager shall have the object removed and the owner shall pay the
town for expenses incurred.
TOWN CODE - DOWNTOWN SIGNAGE 3
Section 16-33. Exemptions.
(a) Graphics of a public non-commercial nature, including safety signs, danger signs,
trespassing signs, signs indicating scenic or historical points of interest, and any other
official sign, provided it is erected by a public officer in the performance of a public
duty, are exempt from this article.
(b)
Wall display cases, awnings, canopies, balconies, marquees and buildings or parts of
building existing at the time of enactment of this Article (April 12, 1978) are exempt
from provisions of this Article except Section 16-34 below.
(c)
Graphics existing at the time of enactment of this Article are exempt from permit fee
requirements, Section 16-32 and Section 16-35, provided:
(1) The requirements of Section 16-28 are met.
(2) The graphic shall have been in place for at least 25 years.
(3) The graphic shall be designated a classic by the Board of Architectural Review
and shall have unusual style, aesthetic qualities, or other distinctive
characteristics rendering it unique among graphics.
(d)
Decorative flags or sandwich boards on the public sidewalk which advertise an activity
conducted on the adjacent premise. Any such display must not interfere with the free
and unencumbered passage of pedestrians, and be maintained in good condition and
allow at least a three-foot passage for pedestrians. However, in those instances where
the three-foot (3') unencumbered passage for pedestrians cannot be met due to pre-
existing conditions not due to any act or failure to act on behalf of the affected
establishment, a wall board sign may be affixed flush to the fall of the affected
establishment. The wall board sign shall consist of a maximum four (4) square feet
and must comply with Section 16-28.
Section 16-34. Maintenance requirements.
All projections together with all their supports, braces, hooks, guys and anchors shall be
substantial and sturdy construction; shall be kept in good repair; and shall be painted or
cleaned as often as necessary to maintain clean, neat, safe and orderly appearance.
Section 16-35. Street graphics; prohibitions and general requirements.
No street graphic shall be constructed, reconstructed, erected, relocated or maintained which:
(1)
(2)
Prevents free ingress or egress from any door, window or fire escape.
Covers or intrudes upon any architectural features of a building such as windows,
columns, moldings or any major decoration;
TOWN CODE - DOWNTOWN SIGNAGE 4
(3) Obstructs free and clear vision or distracts the attention of the driver of any vehicle by
reason of its position, shape, color, reflection or illumination;
(4) Bears or contains statements, words or pictures of an obscene, indecent or immoral
character which will offend public morals or decency.
(5) Advertises or publicizes an activity, business, product or service not conducted on the
premises adjacent to the public right-of-way upon which such graphics are maintained;
(6) Is in any way animated; emits smoke, visible vapors, particles, sound or odor;
(9__) Is located on a utility pole, tree or rock;
(10) Is not hung from brackets, not attached flat against the building or not painted upon
other surface of an existing building;
(11) Projects, in whole or in part, from the right-of-way line over a right-of-way more than
three and one-half feet, except seasonal decorations, existing awnings, canopies and
marquees;
(1_2) Is a time-temperature device or a reader board;
(13) Is illuminated with any color light other than white light and which source of light is
visible from a pedestrian level;
(14_) Is internally illuminated.
Section 13-36. Permitted projections.
Subject to the provisions of this Article, the following projections and street graphics are
permitted to be placed over street rights-of-way.
(1) Architectural features of buildings such as cornices, eaves and bay windows;
(2) Window plant boxes and mailboxes;
(3) Wall graphics;
(4) Projecting graphics;
(5) Temporary window graphics;
(6) Seasonal decorations.
Section 16-37. Specific requirements for permitted projections.
Permitted projections and street graphics may be placed over street rights-of-way only in the
following manner.
TOWN CODE - DOWNTOWN SIGNAGE
(1)
Architectural features, including gutters and down-spouts, window plant boxes and
mailboxes may project not more than 12 inches.
(2)
The combined area and number of wall graphics and projecting graphics shall not
exceed the limits per building as specified by any other ordinance of the town.
(3)
Wall graphics for any activity conducted on the premises may be displayed by
attachment flat to the wall.
(4)
One graphic per street entrance into a building may announce activities conducted on
the premises, may project not more than three and one-half feet, shall have a minimum
clearance of seven feet, six inches above the sidewalk, shall not exceed ten square feet
in area and shall project perpendicularly from the building wall; provided the total area
of all projecting graphics shall not exceed in area ten square feet, plus one square foot
for every four lineal feet of building frontage.
(5)
Projecting graphics shall be located no higher than the sill of a second floor window or
14 feet above the sidewalk, whichever is less; except, however, if the Board of
Architectural Review deems a projecting graphic appropriate in a higher or lower
location, the town manager may permit such exception.
(6)
Temporary window graphics for all activities shall occupy not more than 25 percent of
the area &the window in which such graphics are displayed and shall not remain in
place for more than eight weeks.
(7)
Seasonal decorations shall be permitted for display purposes by a civic organization or
governmental agency with no fee charged provided a plan for the location of such
decorations is submitted to the town manager at least two weeks prior to the date that
the decorations are proposed to be placed. Such plan shall show that Section 16-35 of
this Article will be complied with.
Section 16-38. Definitions.
For the purpose of this Article, certain terms and words are defined as follows:
Animated graphics:
(1) Movement of a sign body or any segment thereof such as rotating, revolving,
moving up or down or any other type of action involving a change of position
of a sign body or segment thereof, whether caused by mechanical illusion or
other means;
(2) Lighted sign on an intermittent or flashing circuit or the movement of any light
used in connection with any sign such as blinking, traveling, flaring or changing
degree of intensity.
TOWN CODE - DOWNTOWN SIGNAGE 6
Eaves.
The projecting overhang at the lower edge of a roof.
Front or frontage.
Surfaces of any building or facility that presents themselves to a public right-of-way
giving immediate access to the premises.
Graphics.
Any device used for visual communication, including signs.
Indirect lighting.
The use of fluorescent, and other vapor light, or incandescent lighting to illuminate a
street graphic from behind the lettering or from inside the graphic structure.
Marquees, canopies, awnings.
Various forms of permanent, temporary, or portable roof-like coverings for entrances
and windows.
Projecting graphic.
A graphic attached to a building or other structure and extending from the building
wall or structure.
Reader board
A graphic with movable characters for a temporary message.
Any device employing letters, words, symbols, etc., used or intended to attract the
attention of the public from streets, sidewalks or other outside public areas. (See
street graphic.)
Street graphic.
Every sign, bulletin board, ground sign, wall and roof sign, reader board, window sign,
illuminated sign, projecting sign, official sign, including any letter, word, number, logo,
symbol, or combination thereof, model, mural, decoration, banner, flag, pennant,
clock, thermometer, insignia, light or combination of lights, used or placed as an
announcement or declaration to identify, advertise or promote the interest of any
person, place, product or corporation when the same is placed in view of the general
public from outside the structure, including interior window signs on which it is
placed.
Wall graphic.
A sign attached to, painted on or erected against a wall or flat vertical surface of a
structure with the exposed face of the sign on a plane parallel to the face of said
vertical surface.
TOWN CODE ~ DOWNTOWN SIGNAGE 7
Window graphics.
All signs attached to or applied directly onto the internal or external surface, or set
back less than one foot from the interior surface, of any window in view of the general
public from outside the structure.
Section II. Ail prior ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
Section III. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance is declared invalid by a
court of competent jurisdiction, the decision shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a
whole or any remaining provisions of the Zoning Ordinance.
Section IV. This ordinance shall be in effect upon its passage.
PASSED this 8th day of October , 1996.
ATTEST:
Clerk of Council
· Clem, Mayor
Leesburg