No sign except a nameplate, a political sign or temporary real estate sign as specified herein shall hereafter be erected or altered in any way unless a sign permit has been issued by the Zoning Officer.

Applications for sign permits shall include detailed drawings of the construction and design of the sign and shall be accompanied by such fee as may be required by resolution of the Council.

Such sign permit shall not obviate compliance with building permit requirements as required by Chapter 163, Building Construction.

No permit shall be required for a mere change of copy on a sign. The repainting of an existing sign does not require a permit as long as there is no change to the size or location of the sign proposed and as long as the sign is for an already permitted use; however, the landowner shall notify the City of the change and provide a copy of a valid zoning permit for the sign. If the landowner cannot provide a copy of a valid zoning permit for the sign, the landowner shall be required to obtain one in accordance with the provisions set forth in this chapter.

No new sign shall be permitted on any property unless every sign on the property shall be in conformance with this article. A sign which is not expressly permitted is prohibited.

Signs existing at the time of passage of this chapter which do not conform to the requirements of this chapter shall be considered nonconforming signs. However, nonconforming signs may be repainted, repaired (including lighting) or replaced, provided such repainted, repaired or replaced signs do not exceed the dimensions of the existing sign. Copy may also be changed. Nonconforming signs, once removed for a period of 90 days, may be replaced only with signs which conform to provisions of this chapter.

No sign shall be so located or arranged that it interferes with traffic through glare, through blocking of reasonable sight lines for streets, sidewalks, or driveway, through confusion with a traffic control device (by reason of color, location, shape or other characteristic), or through any other means. No sign shall violate the corner visibility restrictions in Article IV, General Regulations, except that a sign pole with a width of up to 18 inches may intrude into a sight triangle.

All signs except temporary signs shall be constructed of durable material and kept in good condition and repair.

No signs (except those of a duly constituted governmental body, including traffic signs and similar regulatory notices) shall be allowed within a street right-of-way unless specifically authorized by other ordinances and regulations of the City.

Flashing, blinking, mechanically moving, twinkling or animated signs of any type are prohibited. Strobe lighting shall be prohibited, except for temporary charitable events. This provision shall not prohibit scrolling and electronically changing message signs, provided they meet § 337-79 below, except time and temperature signs and signs posted by the City or a state agency may change more frequently.

Signs may be illuminated by direct lighting but shall have such lighting shielded so no direct light will shine on abutting properties or in the normal line of vision of the public using the streets or sidewalks.

One nameplate sign for a multifamily structure not exceeding 12 square feet in surface area is permitted which identifies the name of the structure for a multiple-family dwelling, sanitarium or tourist home.

For any multiple-family dwelling over four stories in height, a nameplate sign which is permanently attached to a wall of the structure and identifies only the name of the development is permitted, but the surface area shall not exceed 1/3 of the total area of the exposed wall surface of one story of the side of the structure to which the sign is affixed, and in no case shall the sign exceed 225 square feet.

One temporary real estate sign is permitted on any property being sold, leased, or developed if it is not illuminated, is not less than 10 feet from the curb and is no larger in surface area than 16 square feet in any residential district or 25 square feet in any commercial or industrial district.

Such sign shall be limited to advertising the sale or lease of the premises on which it is located or to providing pertinent information regarding the developers, builders, contractors, architects, engineers and other agents responsible for the development. Such sign shall be promptly removed when the sale, lease or development of the property has been completed.

Signs on the premises occupied by any legal business or industry shall be permitted if:

The Zoning Officer may approve additional business signs if:

The sign displays nothing other than the logotype trademark or name of the company or commercial center on the premises.

The sign has a height no greater than 24 feet above basic grade and is no closer than 10 feet to any property line.

The sign shall have an aggregate area, including all faces no greater than one square foot for every linear foot of property frontage on a public right-of-way; but shall not in any case exceed an area of 225 square feet. The maximum permitted sign area may be divided between a maximum of two logo signs, provided that such signs are not less than 100 feet apart.

Where a property fronts on more than one public right-of-way, a logo sign or signs may be installed on each right-of-way.

The devices are permitted for a maximum period of seven days for a maximum of four times per year. A period of three weeks shall pass between promotional periods.

No promotional devices shall be higher than the roofline of the main building.

The devices shall be properly secured.

The devices shall comply with all other ordinance provisions, including clear sight distance.

No balloon or other inflated device shall be larger than 120 cubic feet.

Billboards shall be permitted in the C/I and I Districts only.

Billboards shall not exceed a maximum of 300 square feet on each of the two sides, with a maximum length of 20 feet and a maximum width of 15 feet. If the interior angle within the inside of the two attached sides of a sign is greater than 30°, then the maximum sign areas shall apply to the total of the two sides and no billboard shall have more than two sides.

Billboards shall not exceed a maximum height of 25 feet above the grade of State Route 837. The height shall be measured from the grade of State Route 837 to the highest part of the sign, including any lighting or portion of the support structure.

Billboards shall not be located closer than 20 feet to any property line, and shall not be located closer than 25 feet to, nor further than 75 feet from, any street or road to which the billboard is oriented, measured from the ultimate right-of-way of such street or road. Billboards may not be closer than 800 feet to another billboard measured linearly on the same side of the street or road to which the billboard is oriented; and shall not be closer to another billboard than 500 feet if the billboards are on opposite sides of the street or road to which the billboards are oriented.

More than one billboard shall be permitted per tax parcel, but such signs shall be no less than 800 feet apart.

All billboards shall be structurally sound and maintained in good condition. If the signs are not structurally sound or maintained in good condition, the signs shall be immediately repaired or removed at the sole cost and expense of the owner of the sign. If a billboard is determined by the City to be structurally unsound or in poor condition, the City shall notify the owner of the property on which the sign is located and provide the owner 60 days' written notice via certified mail, sent to the owner's last known address, to repair or remove the sign. If the billboard is not repaired or removed within 60 days of the date of the notice, the City may remove the sign, and the cost thereof shall be paid by the owner of the property on which the billboard is erected. The City may file a lien against the property or take any action permitted by law to collect the cost of removal if it is not paid by the owner of the property.

Landscaping.

All billboards shall be identified on the structure with the name and address of the owner of each sign. Any billboard located within an area that is regulated by Chapter 445 of Title 67 of the Pennsylvania Code shall further be identified with a permit number or tag issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

A billboard shall be considered a discontinued sign if it has carried no message for a period of 180 consecutive days, or if such billboard no longer identifies a bona fide business, commodity, service, entertainment or facility, or if more than 50% of the message on such billboard has deteriorated to the point that it is not clearly discernible from the road or street to which it is oriented. A billboard that has been discontinued shall be presumed to be abandoned and shall constitute an illegal sign. Any period of time for which the discontinued use of a billboard is proved to be caused by government actions, labor strikes, material shortages or acts of God, and without any contributing fault of the owner of the sign or user of the sign, shall not be calculated toward the number of days of discontinued use. Any discontinued billboard shall be removed at the expense of the owner of the sign. In the event that the owner of the sign cannot be ascertained after the City's reasonable inquiry, the discontinued sign and structure shall be removed at the expense of the owner of the property on which the sign is erected.

Shall be permitted as a special exception in any district where public education facilities, City government uses, and/or places of worships are permitted and shall be constructed as part of a monument sign only.

Shall be permitted by right in the MU-T, CBD, C/I and I Zoning Districts for all permitted nonresidential uses on a property that is immediately adjacent to the public right-of-way.

Only one sign permitted per property and no electronic sign shall be permitted on any property that has an existing or proposed manual or mechanical changeable copy sign.

All messages, images, or displays on a digital sign or electronically changing message sign shall remain unchanged for a minimum of 10 seconds, except signs with a changeable sign area of less than 30 square feet in a commercial district may change a minimum interval of every six seconds.

The time interval used to change from one complete message, image or display to the next complete message, image or display shall be a maximum of one second.

There shall be no appearance of a visual dissolve or fading, in which any part of one message, image or display appears simultaneously with any part of a second message, image or display.

There shall be no appearance of flashing or sudden bursts of light, and no appearance of video motion, animation, movement or flow of the message, image or display.

The intensity and contrast of light levels shall remain constant throughout the sign face.

Each digital sign or electronically changing message sign shall be equipped with automatic day/night dimming software, to reduce the illumination intensity of the sign from one hour after sunset to one hour prior to sunrise.

If an off-premises sign, or any portion thereof, is a digital sign or electronically changing message sign, the sign shall be set back a minimum of 1,000 feet from any other off-premises digital sign or electronically changing message sign.