A. Every sign shall be maintained in a safe, presentable and good structural condition by the timely replacement of defective parts, periodic cleaning and painting when necessary. The Code Enforcement Officer shall cause to be removed any sign that endangers public safety, including signs which are materially, electrically, or structurally defective; any sign that is abandoned by reason of the property on which the sign is located being unoccupied for a period of three months or more, except signs applicable to businesses temporarily suspended for less than six months due to a change of ownership; or signs for which no permit has been issued. The Code Enforcement Officer shall send by certified mail a notice to the owner of record of the property and/or business of the violation and require correction or removal within 14 days of the notice mailing. Any sign determined to be in violation and not corrected within the prescribed time period may be removed by the Town at the owner's expense.
B. General safety standards for signs. No sign, whether new or existing, shall hereafter be permitted which either causes a traffic, health, welfare or safety hazard or results in a nuisance, due to illumination, placement, display, or manner of construction.
C. Double-faced signs. A sign with a double signboard or display area shall be constructed to be one sign for the purpose of this chapter.
D. A banner shall be considered a sign, as defined in
Article 3: Definitions.
A. Sign permit. Except as otherwise herein provided, no person shall erect or move any outdoor advertising signs without first applying for and obtaining a sign permit from the Code Enforcement Officer. Applications shall be on forms prescribed and provided by the Code Enforcement Officer, setting forth such information as may be required for a complete understanding of the proposed work. No sign permit shall be issued until the prescribed application fee has been paid. The fees for said permit shall be set by Council order.
B. Removal of signs. Illegal signs erected in public rights-of-way shall be removed by the Code Enforcement Officer.
C. Enforcement and penalties. The enforcement and penalty provisions of this chapter shall apply to the provisions governing signs.
Commercial subdivision signs.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection, a commercial subdivision sign shall comply with all the requirements of this section. 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: Permits, fees and enforcement of this article. The Town may enforce the provisions of this article against any or all such owners.
