East Fallowfield Township
City Zoning Code

Sign Location.

Sign Illumination. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any permitted sign, building, or structure in any district may be illuminated; provided, that there shall be no illumination of a flashing, intermittent, or moving type; and, further provided, that floodlighting shall be so shielded and aimed that the source of light shall not be visible from any point off the lot on which the sign, building, or structure being illuminated is erected, and, so that only the sign, building, or structure is directly illuminated thereby.

Sign Area. For the purposes of this chapter, the area of a sign shall be calculated as follows:

Sign Height. The height of a sign shall be measured from the existing ground elevation at the base of the sign to the highest point of the sign structure. In the case where there is a sidewalk, the height shall be measured from the elevation of the sidewalk.

Vehicular Signs. A sign on a vehicle denoting a business-related activity shall be considered a business sign and shall be subject to the following regulations:

No sign, except where exempted by these regulations, shall be erected without the issuance of a sign permit by the Zoning Officer.

Official highway route number signs, street name signs, directional, or other official federal, state, county, or Township signs.

Directional information or public service signs, such as those advertising availability of restrooms, telephone, or similar public conveniences, and signs advertising meeting times and places of nonprofit service or charitable clubs or organizations, may be erected and maintained, provided that such signs do not significantly advertise any commercial establishment, activity, organization, product, goods, or services, except those of public utilities. Directional and information signs provided for the safety and/or convenience of the public within commercial establishments may be erected. Signs erected under this provision shall not exceed four square feet in area.

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 ownership of a property, provided sign area does not exceed three square feet.

Signs displaying name and address of the occupant of the premises, provided that the area of any such sign shall not exceed one square foot and not more than one such sign shall be erected for each property held in single and separate ownership, unless such property fronts on more than one street, in which case one sign may be erected on each street frontage.

Governmental flags or insignias not exceeding 80 square feet.

Legal notices.

Window signs indicating the store hours or names of credit institutions, provided that the total area of such sign or signs does not exceed two square feet.

Signs or emblems of a religious, civic, philanthropic, historical, or educational organization not exceeding four square feet in area.

Vending machine signs bearing the brand name of the product being sold or price of such product.

Memorial signs or historical tablets, provided that such sign or tablet does not exceed four square feet.

Signs which are a permanent architectural feature of a building or structure, such as a cornerstone, or identifying letters carved into or embossed on a building, provided that the letters are not made of a reflective material nor contrast in color with the building.

Revolving barbershop pole sign, provided that it does not exceed 36 inches in height, as measured from the ground.

Signs advertising the variety of crop growing in a field. Such signs shall be removed after the growing season.

A flashing, rotating, animated, or revolving sign, with the exception of barbershop poles, a searchlight or hot air or gas filled balloons used as a means of drawing attention to a business or other use.

A sign suspended between poles and lighted by a series of lights.

A sign suspended between poles consisting of either pennants or spinners, except as permitted in § 27-1605, Subsection 1B(3).

Any sign erected, painted, or drawn on a tree or rock or other natural feature.

Signs shall only be attached to utility poles in conformance with state and utility regulations and the requirements of this chapter.

No sign which emits smoke, visible vapors or particles, sound, or odor shall be permitted.

Any banner sign or sign of any other type across a public street except as provided for in § 27-1605, Subsection 1C(1).

Any sign containing information which states or implies that a property may be used for any purpose not permitted under the provisions of this chapter.

Any sign which uses the words "stop," "look," "danger," or any other word or character which attempts or appears to attempt to direct the movement of traffic or which interferes with or resembles any official traffic sign, signal, or device within 75 feet of a public right-of-way or within 200 feet of a traffic control device, whichever is greater.

Except for traffic control signals, red or green lights which may be mistaken for official traffic lights are prohibited within 75 feet of a public right-of-way or within 200 feet of a traffic control device, whichever is greater.

A truck or other vehicle not used for normal day-to-day operations of a business or not regularly moved for business related purposes shall be prohibited from use as a sign. [See also § 27-1602, Subsection 1E(1).]

Roof signs as defined by this chapter.

General Provisions.

Temporary Signs not Requiring a Permit. The following temporary signs shall not require a permit if erected in compliance with the following regulations:

Temporary Signs Requiring a Permit. The following temporary signs require a permit and shall be erected in compliance with the following regulations:

Residential accessory, home occupation, or name plate signs, provided that:

Real estate signs, provided that:

Signs intended for permitted nonresidential uses, provided that:

Temporary professional signs, provided that:

Temporary nonprofessional signs, provided that:

Portable signs, when in accordance with the following provisions:

Banners.

Identification of development signs, provided that:

All signs, as permitted in § 27-1606, provided that such signs relate to a use permitted in the district in which the sign is located.

Business, commercial, or industrial signs, provided that:

Directional signs, provided that:

Wall-mounted business signs, provided that:

Projecting business signs, provided that:

The following signs may be erected in the VC Village Commercial District:

Support the First Amendment rights of advertisers to promote legal products and services while retaining the sense of community and protecting the character of the Township;

Ensure that billboards and electronic advertising is provided for in the Township and located safely and appropriately where it can be viewed by the traveling public with the least distraction and degradation to the public safety;

Provide billboards and electronic advertising in a manner demonstrated to be compatible with the historic, natural and rural character of the Township in terms of size, location, visual prominence from areas other than the adjacent highway, and materials and finishes used in construction;

To prevent billboards and electronic advertising from having a negative impact on neighborhoods (particularly residentially zoned or used properties) in terms of visual blight, light pollution, or decreased property value;

To prevent billboards and electronic advertising from having a negative impact on designated historic sites or structures in terms of visual blight, light pollution, or decreased property value;

To advance the mission of the International Dark-Sky Association and maintain the Township's nighttime environment by reducing light pollution through lighting practices that provide:

Billboards may only be erected and maintained in the MU Zoning District, limited to those properties with frontage on state roadways.

Size. The display face of a billboard shall not exceed 50 square feet in area, unless the applicant can establish before the Zoning Hearing Board during the special exception hearing that the content of the billboard could not be read from any point along the road frontage and that the permitted size is not adequate for the conveyance of any advertising messages to passing motorists. If the applicant is able to establish the above, then the billboard shall not be permitted to exceed 300 square feet in area, but in any event shall be no larger than is necessary to be read and conveyed to passing motorists. If present, nondisplay physical borders around the display image shall not exceed six inches on a side.

Billboard to billboard setback. Billboards shall be set back a minimum of 300 feet from any other billboard.

Setbacks; road right-of-way. Billboards shall be set back from the right-of-way a minimum of 20 feet; a distance equivalent to 1.1 times the height of the billboard; or the minimum front building setback set forth in the underlying Zoning District; whichever is greater. No part of a billboard shall be set back more than 60 feet from the nearest street right-of-way.

Setback from street intersections. All billboards must be set back at least 500 feet from all street intersections, measured from the point of intersection of the center lines of the intersecting streets.

Setback from residential dwelling unit. Except as governed by a greater setback required herein, all billboards must be set back a minimum of 150 feet from the boundary of the R1, R2, R3, R4 and AP Zoning Districts and from the boundary of any property on which a residential dwelling unit is situated. Moreover, the applicant must establish that the billboard will be screened such that the face of the billboard will not be visible from an existing residential dwelling unit. With respect to such setback as applied from any existing residential dwelling unit, the 150-foot setback may be reduced if the owner of such dwelling unit agrees in writing to the placement of such sign as memorialized by an easement filed with the Chester County Recorder of Deeds.

Public health, safety and welfare. The applicant shall bear the burden of establishing that the proposed billboard will not create a public health, welfare or safety concern.

Billboard design. The billboard structure shall be designed as an architecturally decorative feature or shall be screened with vegetation. In no case shall the supporting structure be designed to increase the apparent size of the billboard or to otherwise increase its visual prominence.

Structural engineer. The applicant shall be required to submit an attestation from a structural engineer, registered in Pennsylvania, to certify that the proposed billboard is properly constructed pursuant to all applicable codes, to certify the viability of the construction of the foundation and erection of the structure for the proposed billboard. The applicant shall further submit a report from an engineer to set forth the wind tolerances of the proposed billboard.

Landscape plan. The applicant shall submit a plan prepared by a landscape architect showing landscaping proposed to be installed to screen and buffer the billboard. Existing vegetation on and around the proposed Billboard shall be preserved to the greatest extent possible. All proposed landscaping shall comply with the requirements of the Township's Zoning Ordinance[1] and Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[2] Applicants shall submit a visual survey from mutually agreed upon vantage points in order to support the proposed landscaping plan's mitigation of visual impacts.

Electrical service. All billboards shall be serviced by underground electrical wiring.

Access. Billboards shall be properly and adequately secured to prevent unauthorized access, with such features as a locked ladder way.

Electronic signs shall be permitted: 1) for any use authorized by the Zoning Ordinance in the PF Zoning District as an accessory to a use permitted under § 27-802; and 2) by special exception in the MU Zoning District. Within the MU Zoning District, electronic billboards may only be erected and maintained on those properties with frontage on state roadways and subject to the criteria set forth in Subsection 3 above.

Electronic signs and electronic billboards may not contain any: fading; flashing; modulating; scrolling; moving lights; text or graphics; any full-motion video; or any visible change during the change interval period.

Change interval: No more than three sign changes are permitted per day for electronic signs and electronic billboards.

Transition interval: Electronic signs and electronic billboards must provide a maximum transition interval of one second.

Electronic sign and electronic billboard lighting shall be automatically extinguished so as to not operate before 7:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m.

Illumination shall be automatically controlled so that at no point on the electronic sign or electronic billboard shall the luminance exceed 100 cd/m² with a full-white board face after sunset.

The electronic sign or electronic billboard shall contain a default mechanism that will freeze the sign display in one position if a malfunction occurs, or shut down and show "full black" on the display.

Electronic signs shall not exceed 12 feet in height. Electronic billboards shall not exceed 20 feet in height.

Message sequencing shall be prohibited.

No electronic sign or electronic billboard shall shine or reflect light into adjacent residences.

Electronic signs and electronic billboards must be oriented so that they are perpendicular to the adjacent roadway.

Setbacks; road right-of-way. Electronic signs and electronic billboards shall be set back from the right-of-way a minimum of 15 feet or a distance equivalen to 1.1 times their height; whichever is greater. No part of an electronic sign or electronic billboard shall be set back more than 60 feet from the nearest street right-of-way.

Electronic signs and electronic billboards shall be subject to all applicable rear and side yard building setbacks. No portion of any sign shall project over a lot line and in no case shall be within a setback area from the rear or side yards equivalent to a distance of 1.1 times the height of the sign.

A sign permit applicant must obtain all necessary outside agency approvals prior to erection of a sign, including, but not limited to, approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, as may be required. The applicant is required to provide the Township with any such agency approvals prior to the issuance of a permit for a sign. PennDOT and any outside agency approval shall not constitute Township approval.

The owner and/or operator of any billboard, electronic sign or electronic billboard shall provide (and maintain with) the Township with their current address and contact information.

Upon written notice by the Township, the owner, person, or firm maintaining a sign must remove said sign when it:

The Township may remove on cause to be removed said sign at the expense of the owner or lessee in the event the owner or the person or firm maintaining said sign has not complied with the terms of said notice within 14 days of the date of the notice. However, in the event of immediate danger, the Township may remove said sign immediately upon the issuance of said notice to the owner, person, or firm maintaining said sign.

Abandoned signs, as defined by this chapter, shall be removed by the landowner or person controlling the property within 14 days of the abandonment.

The Township may remove or cause to be removed said sign at the expense of the owner or lessee in the event the owner or the person or firm maintaining said sign has not complied with the terms of said notice within 30 days of the notice.