Hopewell Township Washington County
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VIII
Sign Requirements
§ 320-801 Purpose.
The sign regulations, controls and provisions set forth in this article are made in accordance with an overall plan and program related to residential and nonresidential uses. The regulations, controls and provisions are intended to protect public safety, safeguard economic development potential, safeguard development compatibility and the insure the general welfare of Hopewell Township and West Middletown Borough. The regulations, controls and provisions are also intended to aid in traffic control and traffic safety; establish reasonable standards for nonresidential and other advertising through the use of signs in order to maintain and encourage business activity and economic development; avoid uncontrolled proliferation of signs; respect public safety needs and concerns; recognize the rights of the public in roads, streets, highways and the areas adjacent to those roads, streets and highways; preserve the wholesome, attractive character of the municipality and its generally established rural nature; and to recognize that the general welfare include a community plan that shall be attractive as well as healthy, spacious, clean and well-balanced in its growth and development.
§ 320-802 Sign application and sign permit.
A.
Sign application. All proposed development shall be required to submit a sign application to the municipality for its approval prior to issuance of any municipal sign permit. A sign application shall mean a detailed description, including but not limited to type, size, and location of all signs for each lot. The municipality shall review all sign applications for completeness. Any application determined to be incomplete shall be returned to the applicant with a description of missing and/or incomplete items. This provision shall apply to:
B.
Sign permit.
(1)
A sign permit shall be required in order to erect, install, relocate, modify or change any sign within the municipality unless otherwise indicated in this section. "Modify," as it is used herein, shall mean a cabinet or face replacement because of a change in the nature of the business or a change in the name and ownership of a business; or replacement of supporting structures.
(2)
No permit shall be required for the following types of signs as described above: construction signs erected by a governmental agency, notification, and real estate.
(3)
The Zoning Officer shall issue the required permits upon submission of a complete application that complies with all applicable provisions of this chapter and payment of the required fee as established from time to time by resolution of the municipal elected officials.
C.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to:
(1)
Signs not exceeding one square foot in area and bearing only property numbers, post box numbers or names of occupants of premises not having commercial connotations.
(2)
A single flag of the United States or Pennsylvania except when displayed in connection with commercial promotion.
(3)
Legal notices or identification, information or directional signs erected or required by governmental bodies.
(4)
Integral, decorative or architectural features of buildings, except letters, trademarks, moving parts or moving lights.
(5)
Signs directing and guiding traffic parking on private property but bearing no advertising matter.
§ 320-803 General regulations.
A.
The construction of each sign shall comply with applicable provisions of the Uniform Construction Code.
B.
General placement and display of signage. No sign shall be placed, erected or located so that it:
(1)
Is pasted, stapled or otherwise attached to public utility poles, trees, official traffic control devices or traffic signs within the street right-of-way line.
(2)
Is painted directly upon the wall or any other part of the building except for windows. Letters or other devices prepared elsewhere may be applied directly to a wall or to a display window.
(3)
Is painted on, attached to, or supported by a tree, stone, cliff or other natural objects.
(4)
Is on a public lot or public rights-of-way, unless erected by a governmental body, or unless required to be so located by order of a governmental body.
(5)
Is displayed on a vehicle parked and visible from a public right-of-way unless the vehicle is used for the normal day-to-day operation of a business on the premises or temporarily for overnight storage on the sight of a business or for maintenance, repair, loading, unloading or rendering a service at any location, which are visible from the public right-of-way and where the apparent purpose is to advertise a product or direct people to a business or activity located on the same or nearby lot. The intent of this provision is to prohibit the use of a sign on a vehicle to circumvent sign limits on a lot.
(6)
Obscures the vision of drivers or obstruct or detract from the visibility or effectiveness of any traffic sign or control device on public streets and roads by reason of size, location, content, coloring or manner of illumination.
(7)
Obstructs free ingress to or egress from a fire escape, door, window or other required exitway.
(8)
Makes use of words as "stop," "look," "one way," "danger," "yield," or any similar words, phrases, symbols, lights or characters in such a manner as to interfere with, mislead, or confuse traffic.
(9)
Blocks doors, fire escapes, operable windows or access to them; nor shall a sign be attached to a fire escape.
(10)
Sign font and logos shall only be legible from the front and/or side of any sign.
(11)
No sign shall be permitted to hang from or be placed over a second sign except that signs may be placed on, but not extended beyond, any vertical face of a marquee or canopy. This does not exclude separate placards from being independently attached to the same supporting structure as long as the total area of all combined does not exceed the area limitation.
C.
Signage on a lot within a nonresidential zoning district where said lot is immediately adjacent to a residential zoning district shall be no closer than 40 feet to a lot line. Any nonresidential sign within 60 feet of a residential lot line shall be 70% in scale of the permissible maximum signage sizes outlined in § 320-803H.
D.
Written proof of an agreement between both the lot owner upon which an off-premises sign is to be erected and the business owner of the subject business shall be provided to the municipality upon municipality request. At a minimum, the agreement shall identify the length of time the sign is permissible to exist on the subject lot and responsibilities for maintenance.
E.
Illumination.
(1)
Illumination shall be directed upon the sign face and not towards adjoining lots or streets so that the source of illumination is not visible. Internal illumination of signs shall be permitted only with accordance of the lighting performance standards established with this chapter. Lighting shall be stationary and constant in intensity and color at all times. The intensity of any source of illumination of any sign, whether indirect or internal, shall be controlled so as to not create glare and to be compatible with the intensity of ambient light and illumination on surrounding lots. Electronic variable message signs, meaning an electrically or electronically activated sign whose message content, either in whole or in part, may be changed by means of electronic programming shall not be permitted within 20 feet of a road right-of-way.
(2)
Illuminated window signs shall include lit signs placed inside a window facing the exterior of the building.
(a)
Illuminated window signs shall not be placed above the ground floor of the building and/or more than 10 feet above grade level of the building.
(b)
Illuminated window signs shall not exceed a size of 16 square feet. Anything exceeding this size shall be deemed the building sign to which the business is entitled. Any combination of illuminated window signs grouped in an area not to exceed 16 square feet will be permitted.
(3)
Signs may be illuminated by direct lighting and shall have such lighting shielded (cutoff) so no direct light shines on an adjacent lot or in the normal line of vision of the public using the streets or sidewalks. Gooseneck fixtures and uplighting shall be permitted methods of direct lighting.
(4)
Internally illuminated signs shall only occur within nonresidential districts of the Township.
(5)
No animated sign (except time and temperature indicators), no signs illuminated by a flashing, pulsating or intermittent source, no strung pennants or bare bulbs, or no signs lighted in such a manner as to create glare conditions on adjacent properties or any adjacent street shall be permitted.
(6)
Signs containing an integral lighting source, as well as their structural supports, shall be made of noncombustible materials, meaning those materials which will not ignite or deform at temperatures below 1,200° F.
(7)
The maximum lumens measured at any one lot line of the lot on which the lumens are generated shall be zero.
F.
Maintenance and inspection.
(1)
Every permitted sign must be constructed of durable material, kept in good condition and repair and otherwise comply with the Municipal Code. If the durability and/or condition of said sign is not improved within the time period defined by the Zoning Officer, the sign shall be removed by the municipality at the expense of the owner or person in possession of the lot on which the sign is located. The Zoning Officer will notify the responsible party with a certified letter prior to any removal action being taken by the Township.
(2)
Any damaged sign shall be repaired within 60 days.
(3)
Any sign which has been damaged to such extent that it may pose an imminent hazard to passersby, as determined by the Zoning Officer, shall be repaired or removed immediately.
(4)
Any internally illuminated sign cabinets or sign panels which have been damaged shall remain nonilluminated until repaired.
(5)
Failure to comply with these sign maintenance requirements shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
G.
Removal of signs.
(1)
On-premises signs advertising a use no longer in existence or a product no longer available shall be removed or changed to advertise the new use or product immediately after cessation of the original use. Signs once removed shall be replaced only by signs in conformance with this chapter.
(2)
Whenever any business, activity or product on a lot is discontinued, vacated or no longer sold, all signs relating to the discontinued or vacated business shall be removed within 30 days of the vacation or discontinuance of the business or activity.
(3)
If the landowner and/or developer fails to remove the sign by the end of the thirty-sixth day from which the permit had been issued, the municipality shall be permitted to remove the sign at the landowner and/or developer's expense.
H.
Sign size.
(1)
The square footage of the sign shall refer to the graphics area of the sign facing.
(2)
Size of individually mounted letters or logos shall be measured as the area enclosed by the smallest single rectangle or square which will enclose all sign copy and logos.
(3)
Ground signs mounted as individual letters and/or graphics against a wall or fence incorporated in the landscaping of a building shall be measured from the outermost length and height dimensions of the sign.
(4)
Ground signs installed perpendicular to a street may be double faced with the allowable square footage on each face.
(5)
Double-faced signs that are erected at an angle to each other will be subject to the following as to whether they are intended as two signs or for all intents and purposes only constitute one sign:
(6)
For north/south, east/west orientation on the serving street. If the interior angle formed by the two faces of the double-faced sign is greater than 45°, then both sides of such sign shall be considered in calculating the sign area.
(7)
Wall signs shall not exceed the width of the front of the building on which it is located and shall not protrude more than 18 inches from the facade on which the sign is mounted.
(8)
Gasoline service stations shall be allotted 10 additional square feet to display price-per-gallon figures, divided as they select between logo and prices on the one ground sign permitted on the lot.
(9)
Automobile dealers are permitted one "used car" ground sign not to exceed 12 feet in height and 10 square feet in area; or the 10 additional square feet can be incorporated into the existing sign to advertise used cars, divided as the sign owner selects.
(10)
Sign copy mounted or painted on an illuminated surface (including awnings) or illuminated architectural element of a building shall be measured as the entire illuminated surface or architectural element which contains sign copy. A nonilluminated sign placed on an awning shall be measured as if it is placed on any other architectural element.
§ 320-804 Permissible sign types.
Sign Type | Residential District | Nonresidential District | |
|---|---|---|---|
BO/HDO | All Others | ||
Ground | • | • | |
Wall | • | • | |
Projecting | • | • | |
Awning | • | • | |
Window | • | • | |
Door | • | • | |
Historic tablet | • | • | • |
Plaque/cornerstone/nameplate | • | • | • |
NOTES: |
|---|
• = Permitted sign type by district |
Sign Sizing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign Type | Square Footage | Maximum Height | Clearance | Maximum Quantity Street Level | Maximum Quantity Upper Level |
Ground | 1 square foot per 3 linear feet of frontage or a max of 12 square feet, whichever is smaller | 12 feet max; not to exceed the height of the lowest roofline | Only one such sign shall be permitted on each property with the exception of those establishments having walls fronting on 2 or more streets, in which case the sign area for each street may be computed separately | Not applicable | |
Wall sign | 2 square feet for each 1 linear foot of front building wall 1 square foot max per linear foot of front building wall length of the front building wall or length of that portion of such wall devoted to such establishment In no case, however, may the total area of wall exceed 15% of the area of the wall (including windows and door area) to which they are attached | 1 wall and 1 projecting or 1 wall and 1 awning per building wall adjacent to a right-of-way | Not applicable | ||
Projecting | Shall not exceed 8 square feet per side | The sign may not be less than 10 feet above the sidewalk or finished grade The sign may not project from the building more than 5 feet 10 feet clearance, 4 feet or 2/3 walk/width projection | 1 projecting or 1 awning | ||
Awning | 18 square feet | 1 ground and 1 awning or 1 wall and 1 awning | |||
Window | Shall be included in the wall sign computation if their combined area exceeds 50% of the area of the window which they occupy | 2 | 2 | ||
Door | 6 square feet | 1 | 1 | ||
Historic tablet | 1.5 square feet | 1 per street facade, building directory not permitted | |||
Plaque/cornerstone/nameplate | 4 square feet | 1 per building | Not applicable | ||
Roof | |||||