East Bradford Township, PA Zoning Ordinance

If the Zoning Officer finds that any sign or the advertising structure regulated under the provisions of this article is unsafe, unsecured, a safety hazard or has been constructed or erected or is being maintained in violation of this article, the Zoning Officer shall give written notice to the permittee or owner of the property thereof. If such person(s) fails to remove or bring into compliance such sign within 30 days after such notice, such sign or structure may be removed or altered by the Zoning Officer and at the expense of the permittee or owner of the property.

The Zoning Officer may cause any sign or related structure deemed to be an immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare to be removed without notice.

Signs placed within the street right-of-way, except as permitted pursuant to §§ 115-92A and 115-93H(2), shall be removed by the Township without notice. Any removed sign may be retrieved at the Township dumpster, located by the Township office, within five business days after the date of removal. Should the owner or permittee fail to retrieve the sign during the five-day time period, the Township may dispose of the sign.

All enforcement remedies available under Article XIX, Administration, shall apply.

A permit shall be obtained before erecting any sign under these regulations, except as hereinafter provided.

§ 115-93 Exempt signs.

No permit shall be required for erecting any of the following signs. These signs, however, shall conform to all other regulations set forth in § 115-92.

Directional, information or public service signs, such as those advertising the availability of rest rooms, telephones or similar public conveniences, and signs advertising meeting times and places of nonprofit services or charitable clubs and organizations may be erected or maintained, provided that such signs do not advertise any commercial establishment, activity, organization, product, goods or services except those of public utilities. Such signs shall not exceed two square feet in area.

[Amended 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005]

Directional and informational signs, provided for the guidance and convenience of the public within commercial establishments may also be erected. Such signs shall not exceed six square feet in area.

[Added 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005[1]]

[1]

Editor’s Note: This ordinance also provided for the redesignation of former Subsections B through F as Subsections C through G, respectively.

Security alarm signs, trespassing signs or signs indicating the private nature of a road, driveway or premises; signs prohibiting or otherwise controlling hunting or fishing upon particular premises; and signs indicating the ownership of a property or the nature of a home occupation may be erected and maintained, provided that the sign area does not exceed two square feet in area.

Real estate signs, provided that:

[Amended 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005; 10-14-2008 by Ord. No. 3-2008]

Real estate signs offering individual properties for sale or rent or indicating that a property has been sold shall be located entirely within the lot lines of the particular property to which they refer and shall not exceed six square feet in area.

Real estate signs for tenant spaces within nonresidential structures shall be incorporated into the freestanding sign or wall sign for the property.

Not more than one real estate sign shall be placed on any property or premises unless a property abuts more than one street, in which case one such sign may be fronted on each street.

Real estate signs shall be removed as of the date of settlement.

Artisan signs, provided that:

[Amended 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005; 10-14-2008 by Ord. No. 3-2008]

Such signs shall be erected only on the premises where and while such work is being performed.

The size of any such sign shall not exceed six square feet in area.

Not more than one such sign per artisan shall be placed on the premises unless a property abuts more than one street, in which case one such sign may be fronted on each street.

Signs shall remain erected for no longer than six weeks.

Yard or garage sale signs, provided that the sign is removed within 24 hours after the event is ended. Yard or garage sale signs shall not be placed in any right-of-way or upon any utility pole or official traffic sign.

[Amended 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005]

Kiosk signs offering and dispensing information on properties that permit public access for recreational purposes and are managed by nonprofit conservation organizations or any unit of government, provided that no fee is charged for this public access, the property upon which such signs are to be located permits public access and each panel of the kiosk sign shall not exceed 15 square feet in area. Not more than one kiosk sign shall be placed upon the premises in a location visible from any public road unless a property abuts more than one street, in which case one such sign may be fronted on each street. There shall be no limit on the number of kiosk signs that are not visible from any public road.

[Added 8-10-2004 by Ord. No. 4-2004]

Political signs, provided that they comply with the following provisions:

[Added 10-14-2008 by Ord. No. 3-2008]

Political signs shall be permitted on private property, but outside any road right-of-way, provided that the area of any such sign shall not exceed six square feet.

Political signs shall be permitted within the road right-of-way, provided that:

(a)

Such signs shall not be less than eight feet from either the outer edge of the cartway or the curb, if there is a curb, except during the political season when there shall be no restriction on the location of political signs.

(b)

The location of such signs shall not create a hazard.

(c)

The area of any political sign shall not exceed six square feet.

§ 115-94 Temporary signs.

The following shall be observed in all districts. Temporary signs, including signs larger than six square feet in area advertising land or premises available for purchase, development or occupancy, or other signs announcing special events or the temporary sale of products and goods, such as Christmas trees, shall be permitted, provided that:

Permits, except for banners, shall run for a period of up to three months, as the applicant chooses. Permits for other than ongoing construction to dedication or release of escrow of subdivisions and land developments may not be renewed.

[Amended 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005]

Signs shall not exceed 32 square feet in area or any more restrictive square footage limitation imposed elsewhere by this chapter.

[Amended 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005]

Shingles shall not exceed two square feet in area.

[Added 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005[1]]

[1]

Editor’s Note: This ordinance also provided for the redesignation of former Subsections C through G as Subsections D through H. respectively.

Any freestanding sign shall be located at least 10 feet from any lot line.

Signs shall be removed immediately upon expiration of the permit.

The site or building on which the sign was erected shall be restored to its original condition upon removal of the sign.

A permit must be obtained before erecting any temporary sign.

The maximum permitted display period for a banner shall not exceed 30 days and shall not be renewed consecutively.

[Amended 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005]

§ 115-95 Business signs.

[Amended 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 5-2004; 11-8-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005; 12-13-2006 by Ord. No. 8-2006]

Business signs accessory to permitted commercial uses shall be permitted, provided that:

The total square footage of all signs mounted on the front of a building shall not exceed 32 square feet.

The total square footage of all signs mounted on the side wall exposed to unobstructed public view from either a street or a parking area shall not exceed 10 square feet in area for each 10 linear feet of such side building wall, and in no case shall the total square footage of the signs exceed 32 square feet.

Wall signs shall be installed parallel to the supporting wall and project not more than 10 inches from the face of such wall.

Interior directional freestanding signs shall not be spaced closer to each other than a distance equal to 10 times the largest dimension (height or width) of the sign having the largest dimension.

Interior directional signs shall not exceed eight square feet and there shall be a maximum of one per commercial or industrial court entrance.

Double-faced signs shall be computed for area only on one side.

Shingle signs shall be permitted under canopies notwithstanding other signs.

Signs in planned commercial developments in the C-1, C-2 and C-3 Zoning Districts, and development in the I Zoning District where due to building design the applicant requests relief from the criteria of Subsections A through G above, the applicant shall present with the land development plans the specific design for all signs, which shall include proposed building elevations with corresponding proposed sign elevations, proposed sign materials and lighting arrangements (if any), which shall be subject to final approval by the Board of Supervisors after receipt of the recommendation of the Planning Commission. In all cases, including signage otherwise eligible for relief in § 115-95H herein, all individual wall signs in planned commercial developments shall be separated in accordance with the following criteria:

For store/unit fronts not exceeding 25 feet in width, the overall length of the wall sign for that store/unit shall not exceed the store frontage minus four feet, that is two feet on either side of the sign measured to the demising walls.

For store/unit fronts exceeding 25 feet in width, but not exceeding 50 feet in width, the overall length of the wall sign for that store/unit shall not exceed the store frontage minus six feet, that is three feet on either side of the sign measured to the demising walls.

For store/unit fronts exceeding 50 feet in width, the overall length of the wall sign for that store/unit shall not exceed the store frontage minus eight feet, that is four feet on either side of the sign measured to the demising walls.