Signs located over garage doors not over six square feet in area which identify the service available therein are permitted.

Signs which merely identify the occupants of any building or premises and which are intended to be read on such premises are permitted in any district and shall be in addition to any other signs permitted by this chapter. The maximum letter height shall be not more than two inches.

A freestanding bulletin board or similar sign used for occasional commercial purposes, not exceeding 32 square feet in display area, in connection with any church, museum, library, school or similar public structure, is allowed without a permit.

No off-premises signs shall be permitted in any district except two off-premises official business directional signs pursuant to 23 M.R.S.A. §§ 1901 through 1925, as amended and enforced by the Maine Department of Transportation, or unless otherwise provided for in this chapter. Temporary directional signs for new businesses shall also be permitted in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to 23 M.R.S.A. §§ 1901 through 1925. The applicant for an official business directional sign shall provide certification from the Code Enforcement Officer that the proposed sign is in conformity with all applicable municipal sign ordinances.

Categorical signs as defined by 23 M.R.S.A. § 1913-A, as amended, shall be permitted in any zone without permit except as otherwise provided for in this article. Categorical signs shall not exceed 32 square feet in area.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection F, a commercial subdivision sign shall comply with all the requirements of this § 120-706. A commercial subdivision sign shall be deemed an on-premises, freestanding sign, not a billboard.

(2) Commercial subdivision signs shall be permitted only in the C-1, C-2, C-3, I, and VC Districts.

(3) The maximum gross display area of a commercial subdivision sign shall be 32 square feet. At least 10% of the gross display area shall be devoted to identifying the commercial subdivision by name (or by generic description such as "office park" or "shopping center" if no name has been assigned). The remaining gross display area may be used only to identify and advertise uses within or with direct access, or in the case of a public agency access, through the commercial subdivision, and must be located below the name of the development. Before the Code Enforcement Officer issues a permit for a commercial subdivision sign, the Addressing Officer in coordination with the Town Planner and Fire-Rescue Chief must determine that the name of the commercial subdivision is not identical to or likely to be confused with the name of any other development already existing in Windham.

(4) Notwithstanding § 120-706A(5), no lot within a commercial subdivision which utilizes a commercial subdivision sign may contain more than one freestanding sign, except that the lot on which the commercial subdivision sign is located may contain both the commercial subdivision sign and one other freestanding sign otherwise allowed by this chapter.

(5) A commercial subdivision sign must be located on property within the commercial subdivision which abuts the arterial, collector or controlled access street, must be visible from said street and must be located at or near the driveway or street entrance to the commercial subdivision in order to direct motorists to that entrance. When a commercial subdivision abuts and has a driveway or street entrance from more than one arterial, collector or controlled access street, the Planning Board may approve one commercial subdivision sign at or near the driveway or street entrance from each of the arterial, collector or controlled access streets for a total of two commercial subdivision signs.

(6) Commercial subdivision signs shall comply with all applicable setback requirements, except that no setbacks shall be required from property lines separating lots within the commercial subdivision from one another or from common areas (other than streets), and no setbacks shall be required from boundaries of leasehold or easement interests (other than streets) within the commercial subdivision.

(7) If provided, electrical service to a business directory sign must be by underground wiring only.

(8) Each owner of a lot or unit of occupancy which is identified or advertised on a commercial subdivision sign shall be responsible for any violations of this chapter arising out of the erection or maintenance of the commercial subdivision sign and shall be deemed an owner of the sign under § 120-703 of this article. The Town may enforce the provisions of this article against any or all such owners.

One temporary development or construction sign, not over 32 square feet in area, attached to a building or freestanding, may be erected, provided such sign shall be limited to a general identification of the project and those responsible therefor and shall be removed within 10 days after completion of the project, except that any sign for an Enterprise Development (ED) District may not exceed 60 square feet in total area.

In those instances where one or two principal uses will occupy a building, and the principal use has accessory uses associated with said principal use, customer direction signs may be allowed for each accessory use, provided that only one customer direction sign shall be allowed for each accessory use within the building, and the maximum display area of the wall sign shall not exceed 64 square feet. Customer direction signs shall be firmly affixed to the building's facade and located directly above the entrance that will provide customer access to that portion of the building where the accessory use is to be located.

Directional signs, solely indicating ingress and egress, placed at driveway locations, containing no advertising material, and having a display area not exceeding three square feet nor extending higher than seven feet above ground level are permitted in any zone without permit. Directional signs which incorporate either a logo or an identifying symbol are permitted in any zone as long as they meet the requirements of this subsection.

A freestanding sign not exceeding 32 square feet which identifies the name of the subdivision or development may be erected at the entrance to an Enterprise Development (ED) District, which road or roads front on a major street, and if a directory to businesses is used, the total square footage of the signage may not exceed 60 square feet.

Two signs advertising the sale of farm or forestry products produced on the premises shall be permitted in any zone and shall not exceed a total of 32 square feet without permit.

Content of sign in commercial district. Signs in business or commercial districts may only identify the occupant of the premises and advertise the services or products available within said premises and may in addition advertise events and public services. Clocks and thermometers may be incorporated into a sign. The letters of displays or signs may be changed from time to time by the occupant without a permit as long as there is otherwise no violation of this chapter.

Freestanding signs shall be permanently affixed to said premises. For each premises containing more than one commercial tenant, one freestanding sign of not more than 100 square feet identifying the tenants of said premises will be allowed. In addition, one wall sign shall be allowed for the principal use where the maximum gross display area shall not exceed 10% of the wall area to which it is attached or 100 square feet, whichever is greater, and in those instances where additional tenants will occupy the building, in addition to the principal use or uses, one wall sign may be affixed to the exterior of the building for each additional tenant and the maximum gross display area of the wall sign shall not exceed 100 square feet. However, if a wall sign is not utilized, a roof sign of not more than 100 square feet shall be permitted for each tenancy thereof. For any premises containing more than 10 tenants, 10 square feet of additional sign area is allowed for each tenant up to a maximum of 150 square feet on any on-premises freestanding sign. If a premises contains more than 10 tenants, then the increase in sign area of 10% for design excellence does not apply. For purposes of this section, "on-premises" shall be construed to include the right-of-way giving access to parcels not located on a public right-of way. Multiple advertising displays may be grouped together to be counted as one sign assembly. Premises under the same ownership having more than one structure are permitted a separate wall or roof sign of not more than 100 square feet for each tenancy thereof. To encourage design excellence, the maximum sign area for certain business, industrial, marquee, and directory signs may be increased by 10% if one or more of the following conditions are met:
Freestanding signs near residential districts. Such signs may be located on any part of the premises, unless otherwise prohibited, except that insofar as possible no sign shall be constructed or oriented in such a manner as to face an adjoining lot in a farm or residential district and no sign shall be constructed in the rear yard or side yard of any premises where the rear property line or side property line abuts a lot in a farm or residential district.

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Specification of signs in commercial districts. Unless otherwise provided, freestanding signs shall conform to the following:

Signs announcing motor fuel prices shall be permitted, ancillary to a properly established retail sales outlet, with numerals no greater than two feet in height and no more than one two-sided sign per road fronted.

Signs advertising home, garage, barn, basement, or moving sales temporarily held at any premises shall be permitted on premises in any zone without permit for no more than 14 days prior to said sale and shall be promptly removed thereafter.

Signs announcing the name, address and profession of a permitted home occupation or a lawfully existing nonconforming home occupation are allowed on premises without permit, provided the sign does not exceed six square feet in display area.

See § 120-706B for details about sign content.

Menu signs are permitted on premises when serving drive-through windows and are intended to be read from inside a motor vehicle while in line for drive-through service and shall be limited to 30 square feet in area.

A freestanding sign not exceeding 32 square feet is permitted for any school, municipal building, church or similar public structure.

(1) One temporary real estate sign not over six square feet in area, attached to a building or freestanding, may be erected in the F, FR, RL, and RM Zones without a permit advertising the sale, lease or rental of the premises upon which the sign is located, except that a lot or building with frontage on two public ways may have one six-square-foot sign on each public way, and shall be removed by the owner or agent of the owner within 10 days of said sale, lease or rental.

(2) One temporary real estate sign not over 16 square feet in area, attached to a building or freestanding, may be erected in the C-1, C-2, C-3, I, ED and VC Zones, and on the premises of a conforming commercial use, excluding home occupations, in any zone, without a permit advertising the sale, lease or rental of the premises upon which the sign is located, except that a lot or building with frontage on two public ways may have one sixteen-square-foot sign on each public way, and shall be removed by the owner or agent of the owner within 10 days of said sale, lease or rental. In addition, conforming existing wall and freestanding signs affixed to the premises may advertise the sale, lease, or rental of the premises upon which the sign is located. Such advertising shall be removed by the owner or agent of the owner within 10 days of said sale, lease or rental.

A freestanding sign not exceeding 32 square feet which identifies the name of the subdivision may be erected at each entrance into such subdivision. Such signs shall be placed either within the fifty-foot right-of-way of the subdivision entrance road or within 50 feet of this right-of-way. No such signs shall obstruct vehicular sight distances.

Points of scenic, historical, cultural, recreational, educational or religious interest may be allowed a maximum of four signs each, not to exceed 32 square feet each. Each such point of interest shall be credited with five square feet in area toward the total sign size allowed.

Special intracommunity service signs as permitted by policy of the Maine Department of Transportation shall be permitted in any zone without permit.

Temporary signs shall be in addition to any sign permitted by this article.

Temporary signs permitted. One temporary advertising sign up to 32 square feet shall be permitted in any district in connection with a legally permissible business conducted on the premises for up to 90 days in any calendar year. Any business that allows a temporary sign to remain in place more than the 90 days allowed by this subsection will not be issued a permit the following year.

Conversion of temporary signs. Temporary signs may be converted to permanent use by being permanently affixed to the premises. The resulting sign must comply with all other sections of this chapter and all applicable building codes.

One theater marquee no larger than 60 square feet shall be allowed on the premises or entrance to the premises of a theater or group of theaters sharing a premises.

See § 120-706B for details about sign content.

Outdoor advertising signs shall be permitted on each premises in the commercial district and shall conform to the following standards:

Signs located over garage doors not over six square feet in area which identify the service available therein are permitted.

Signs which merely identify the occupants of any building or premises and which are intended to be read on such premises are permitted in any district and shall be in addition to any other signs permitted by this chapter. The maximum letter height shall be not more than two inches.

A freestanding bulletin board or similar sign used for occasional commercial purposes, not exceeding 32 square feet in display area, in connection with any church, museum, library, school or similar public structure, is allowed without a permit.

No off-premises signs shall be permitted in any district except two off-premises official business directional signs pursuant to 23 M.R.S.A. §§ 1901 through 1925, as amended and enforced by the Maine Department of Transportation, or unless otherwise provided for in this chapter. Temporary directional signs for new businesses shall also be permitted in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to 23 M.R.S.A. §§ 1901 through 1925. The applicant for an official business directional sign shall provide certification from the Code Enforcement Officer that the proposed sign is in conformity with all applicable municipal sign ordinances.

Categorical signs as defined by 23 M.R.S.A. § 1913-A, as amended, shall be permitted in any zone without permit except as otherwise provided for in this article. Categorical signs shall not exceed 32 square feet in area.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection F, a commercial subdivision sign shall comply with all the requirements of this § 120-706. A commercial subdivision sign shall be deemed an on-premises, freestanding sign, not a billboard.

(2) Commercial subdivision signs shall be permitted only in the C-1, C-2, C-3, I, and VC Districts.

(3) The maximum gross display area of a commercial subdivision sign shall be 32 square feet. At least 10% of the gross display area shall be devoted to identifying the commercial subdivision by name (or by generic description such as "office park" or "shopping center" if no name has been assigned). The remaining gross display area may be used only to identify and advertise uses within or with direct access, or in the case of a public agency access, through the commercial subdivision, and must be located below the name of the development. Before the Code Enforcement Officer issues a permit for a commercial subdivision sign, the Addressing Officer in coordination with the Town Planner and Fire-Rescue Chief must determine that the name of the commercial subdivision is not identical to or likely to be confused with the name of any other development already existing in Windham.

(4) Notwithstanding § 120-706A(5), no lot within a commercial subdivision which utilizes a commercial subdivision sign may contain more than one freestanding sign, except that the lot on which the commercial subdivision sign is located may contain both the commercial subdivision sign and one other freestanding sign otherwise allowed by this chapter.

(5) A commercial subdivision sign must be located on property within the commercial subdivision which abuts the arterial, collector or controlled access street, must be visible from said street and must be located at or near the driveway or street entrance to the commercial subdivision in order to direct motorists to that entrance. When a commercial subdivision abuts and has a driveway or street entrance from more than one arterial, collector or controlled access street, the Planning Board may approve one commercial subdivision sign at or near the driveway or street entrance from each of the arterial, collector or controlled access streets for a total of two commercial subdivision signs.

(6) Commercial subdivision signs shall comply with all applicable setback requirements, except that no setbacks shall be required from property lines separating lots within the commercial subdivision from one another or from common areas (other than streets), and no setbacks shall be required from boundaries of leasehold or easement interests (other than streets) within the commercial subdivision.

(7) If provided, electrical service to a business directory sign must be by underground wiring only.

(8) Each owner of a lot or unit of occupancy which is identified or advertised on a commercial subdivision sign shall be responsible for any violations of this chapter arising out of the erection or maintenance of the commercial subdivision sign and shall be deemed an owner of the sign under § 120-703 of this article. The Town may enforce the provisions of this article against any or all such owners.

One temporary development or construction sign, not over 32 square feet in area, attached to a building or freestanding, may be erected, provided such sign shall be limited to a general identification of the project and those responsible therefor and shall be removed within 10 days after completion of the project, except that any sign for an Enterprise Development (ED) District may not exceed 60 square feet in total area.

In those instances where one or two principal uses will occupy a building, and the principal use has accessory uses associated with said principal use, customer direction signs may be allowed for each accessory use, provided that only one customer direction sign shall be allowed for each accessory use within the building, and the maximum display area of the wall sign shall not exceed 64 square feet. Customer direction signs shall be firmly affixed to the building's facade and located directly above the entrance that will provide customer access to that portion of the building where the accessory use is to be located.

Directional signs, solely indicating ingress and egress, placed at driveway locations, containing no advertising material, and having a display area not exceeding three square feet nor extending higher than seven feet above ground level are permitted in any zone without permit. Directional signs which incorporate either a logo or an identifying symbol are permitted in any zone as long as they meet the requirements of this subsection.

A freestanding sign not exceeding 32 square feet which identifies the name of the subdivision or development may be erected at the entrance to an Enterprise Development (ED) District, which road or roads front on a major street, and if a directory to businesses is used, the total square footage of the signage may not exceed 60 square feet.

Two signs advertising the sale of farm or forestry products produced on the premises shall be permitted in any zone and shall not exceed a total of 32 square feet without permit.

Content of sign in commercial district. Signs in business or commercial districts may only identify the occupant of the premises and advertise the services or products available within said premises and may in addition advertise events and public services. Clocks and thermometers may be incorporated into a sign. The letters of displays or signs may be changed from time to time by the occupant without a permit as long as there is otherwise no violation of this chapter.

Freestanding signs shall be permanently affixed to said premises. For each premises containing more than one commercial tenant, one freestanding sign of not more than 100 square feet identifying the tenants of said premises will be allowed. In addition, one wall sign shall be allowed for the principal use where the maximum gross display area shall not exceed 10% of the wall area to which it is attached or 100 square feet, whichever is greater, and in those instances where additional tenants will occupy the building, in addition to the principal use or uses, one wall sign may be affixed to the exterior of the building for each additional tenant and the maximum gross display area of the wall sign shall not exceed 100 square feet. However, if a wall sign is not utilized, a roof sign of not more than 100 square feet shall be permitted for each tenancy thereof. For any premises containing more than 10 tenants, 10 square feet of additional sign area is allowed for each tenant up to a maximum of 150 square feet on any on-premises freestanding sign. If a premises contains more than 10 tenants, then the increase in sign area of 10% for design excellence does not apply. For purposes of this section, "on-premises" shall be construed to include the right-of-way giving access to parcels not located on a public right-of way. Multiple advertising displays may be grouped together to be counted as one sign assembly. Premises under the same ownership having more than one structure are permitted a separate wall or roof sign of not more than 100 square feet for each tenancy thereof. To encourage design excellence, the maximum sign area for certain business, industrial, marquee, and directory signs may be increased by 10% if one or more of the following conditions are met:
Freestanding signs near residential districts. Such signs may be located on any part of the premises, unless otherwise prohibited, except that insofar as possible no sign shall be constructed or oriented in such a manner as to face an adjoining lot in a farm or residential district and no sign shall be constructed in the rear yard or side yard of any premises where the rear property line or side property line abuts a lot in a farm or residential district.

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Specification of signs in commercial districts. Unless otherwise provided, freestanding signs shall conform to the following:

Signs announcing motor fuel prices shall be permitted, ancillary to a properly established retail sales outlet, with numerals no greater than two feet in height and no more than one two-sided sign per road fronted.

Signs advertising home, garage, barn, basement, or moving sales temporarily held at any premises shall be permitted on premises in any zone without permit for no more than 14 days prior to said sale and shall be promptly removed thereafter.

Signs announcing the name, address and profession of a permitted home occupation or a lawfully existing nonconforming home occupation are allowed on premises without permit, provided the sign does not exceed six square feet in display area.

See § 120-706B for details about sign content.

Menu signs are permitted on premises when serving drive-through windows and are intended to be read from inside a motor vehicle while in line for drive-through service and shall be limited to 30 square feet in area.

A freestanding sign not exceeding 32 square feet is permitted for any school, municipal building, church or similar public structure.

(1) One temporary real estate sign not over six square feet in area, attached to a building or freestanding, may be erected in the F, FR, RL, and RM Zones without a permit advertising the sale, lease or rental of the premises upon which the sign is located, except that a lot or building with frontage on two public ways may have one six-square-foot sign on each public way, and shall be removed by the owner or agent of the owner within 10 days of said sale, lease or rental.

(2) One temporary real estate sign not over 16 square feet in area, attached to a building or freestanding, may be erected in the C-1, C-2, C-3, I, ED and VC Zones, and on the premises of a conforming commercial use, excluding home occupations, in any zone, without a permit advertising the sale, lease or rental of the premises upon which the sign is located, except that a lot or building with frontage on two public ways may have one sixteen-square-foot sign on each public way, and shall be removed by the owner or agent of the owner within 10 days of said sale, lease or rental. In addition, conforming existing wall and freestanding signs affixed to the premises may advertise the sale, lease, or rental of the premises upon which the sign is located. Such advertising shall be removed by the owner or agent of the owner within 10 days of said sale, lease or rental.

A freestanding sign not exceeding 32 square feet which identifies the name of the subdivision may be erected at each entrance into such subdivision. Such signs shall be placed either within the fifty-foot right-of-way of the subdivision entrance road or within 50 feet of this right-of-way. No such signs shall obstruct vehicular sight distances.