A professional sign or an announcement sign for a home professional office or home occupation shall bear only the name and profession or occupation of the resident. Such sign shall have a maximum area of two square feet and may be located on the building wall or in the required front yard, provided that it is set back at least 15 feet from all property lines and is not more than six feet above the natural ground level at its location.

A church or other place of worship may have one announcement sign, not over 12 square feet in area, on each public street frontage of its property, either fixed on the main wall of the building or located in the required front yard, provided that it is set back at least five feet from the front property line and at least 25 feet from all other property lines.

A parish house, club, school or public or semipublic building may have one announcement sign, not over six square feet in area, on each public street frontage of its property, either fixed on the main wall of the building or located in the required front yard, provided that it is set back at least five feet from the front property line and at least 25 feet from all other property lines.

Such signs may be double-faced.

Such signs may be lighted only by shielded light sources attached to the sign.

A wall identification sign shall be attached to or incorporated in the building wall. Such sign shall have:

A detached or ground identification sign may be erected where the building is set back from the street line a distance of 40 feet or more. Such sign shall have:

Identification signs may be interior lighted with nonglaring lights or may be illuminated by shielded floodlights; provided, however, that red and green lights shall be set back at least 75 feet from the point of intersection of the street lines at a street corner, and further provided that intermittent or flashing lights shall not be used on or in any sign. Moving or animated signs are prohibited. No neon sign shall be permitted outside of a building.

Prohibited signs. Any type of sign not expressly permitted by this Code is deemed prohibited. In particular:

Real estate and construction signs shall be set back at least 15 feet. Such signs shall have a maximum area of eight square feet, except that subdivision signs shall have a maximum area of 24 square feet, and shall not be illuminated.

Temporary directional signs indicating the location of a real estate subdivision shall be permitted as variances, under the provisions of Article XI, for a period of one year during the active selling of subdivision properties. Additional periods of one year shall be the subject of applications to the Board of Appeals.

The area of a sign shall be determined by the smallest rectangle that encompasses all of the letters or symbols that make up the sign, together with the area of any background of a different color or material than the general finish of the building, whether painted or applied.

In no case shall lighted signs be so located that they constitute a hazard to vehicular traffic.

The outlining by direct illumination of all or part of a building, such as a gable, roof, wall, side or corner, is prohibited, except during the Christmas season.

Temporary or permanent signs resting on or attached to vehicles shall not be used as a means to circumvent the provisions of this chapter.

Election and political signs. Election and political signs shall be removed within five days after the election or political event.

Special event signs. Special event signage for business openings and community activities (such as municipal, school, church and other nonprofit organization activities) are permitted, provided that the sign is erected or posted no more than 30 days prior to the event and shall be removed within three days after the event. No such sign shall exceed 30 square feet in size and shall be smaller if directed by the permitting officer pursuant to this section. All such signs require prior application for and issuance of a permit by the Building Inspector or Code Enforcement Officer, who shall have the authority to impose reasonable restrictions on sign size and location to protect the public health, safety and welfare.

Yard sale signs. Yard sale signs are permitted, provided such signs are erected or posted no more than five days prior to the sale and shall be removed no later than one day after the sale.

Approval and denial of applications for all signs and initial interpretation of the sign regulations shall be the jurisdiction and responsibility of the Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer. Enforcement of the sign regulations shall be the jurisdiction and responsibility of the Building Inspector, Code Enforcement Officer and the Police Department. An appeal from the decision, interpretation or other action of the enforcing officer may be made to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). The decision of the enforcing officer shall remain in effect unless and until decided otherwise by the ZBA upon appeal or referral to the ZBA.