Any public notice or warning required by a valid and applicable federal, state, county or local law, regulation or ordinance.

Any sign which is inside a building, not attached to a window or door, and is not readable from a distance of more than three feet beyond the lot line of the lot or parcel nearest to where such sign is located.

Holiday lights and decorations with no commercial message, excluding holiday inflatable decorations, which shall require permission of the Borough Council.

Any sign indicating the name of a building and/or date of construction and/or other incidental information about its construction, which sign is cut into a masonry surface or made of bronze or similar permanent material, including historic tablets, cornerstones, memorial plaques and emblems which do not exceed four square feet in area from a single viewpoint.

Traffic control signs on private property, the face of which meets the Department of Transportation standard, and which contain no commercial message of any sort.

Flags of the United States, New Jersey, the Borough of Madison, foreign nations having diplomatic relations with the United States, other flags adopted or sanctioned by an elective legislative body of competent jurisdiction and flags flown in conjunction with the flag of the United States, provided that such a flag does not exceed 60 square feet in area and is not flown from a pole in excess of 40 feet in height. A flag's area shall be in reasonable proportion to the length of the pole from which it is displayed. Not more than three flags may be flown from any one pole. The statutory requirements associated with flags and generally accepted standards of flag display etiquette shall be observed.

Signs in the University Zone that are more than 100 feet from the external boundary of a lot.

Signs or banners advertising public or quasi-public events that are posted with the permission of the Borough Council or of any person to whom the Borough Council has delegated this authority according to guidelines set by the Borough Council.

Pump-mounted fuel price informational signs subject to the following:

U.S. Postal regulation mailboxes.

No sign except those exempted by Subsection A above shall be placed, constructed, or erected or modified unless a sign permit shall have been obtained from the Zoning Officer and, where required by the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code, a building permit shall have been obtained from the Construction Official and, in the case of a commercial use, be referred to and reviewed the Sign and Facade Committee of the Downtown Development Commission and, if in the Historic District, be referred to and reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission. Signs which are not specifically allowed by this subsection shall be prohibited.

Master Signage Plan.

When installation or modification of a sign has been approved by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment as part of a development application, the Construction Official shall issue a sign permit only if the proposed sign is consistent with the reviewing board's approval.

Site plan approval.

The Sign and Facade Committee of the Downtown Development Commission, in reviewing applications for a sign permit, pursuant to Subsection B(4)(a), shall advise the Zoning Officer whether the Master Signage Plan, including the plans for the individual signs, is based on an integrated design, including all the elements listed in Subsection B(2)(b)[1] through [8] above, and whether the above elements are designed to be in harmony and are consistent with each other, the architecture and materials of the principal structure and the landscaping plan. The Committee may recommend that a waiver will better promote the purposes of this section.

Whenever acting on a development application for commercial uses where installation or modification by any sign is proposed, the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, as the case may be, shall refer the application to the Sign and Facade Committee of the Downtown Development Commission for review and recommendation prior to approving or denying any application for preliminary approval. If located in the Historic District, the application shall also be referred to the Historic Preservation Commission for review and recommendation. Upon receipt of any development application for commercial use which proposes the installation or modification of any sign, the Secretary of the Board hearing the application shall forward one complete copy of the application to the Sign and Facade Committee and, when appropriate, to the Historic Preservation Commission. The Sign and Facade Committee and, when appropriate, the Historic Preservation Commission shall review the applicant's Master Signage Plan and submit recommendations to the reviewing board within 15 days after receipt of a copy of the application.

Measurement of area of individual signs. The area of a sign face (which is also the sign area of a wall sign or other sign with only one face) shall be computed by means of the smallest square, circle, rectangle, triangle or combination thereof that will encompass the extreme limits of the writing, graphic illustration, picture, symbol or other display, together with any material or color forming an integral part of the background of the sign and used to differentiate the sign from the backdrop or structure against which it is placed, but not including any supporting framework, bracing or decorative fence or wall when such fence or wall otherwise meets zoning regulations and is clearly incidental to the sign itself. No sign shall have more than two display faces. The sign area for a sign with two faces shall be computed by adding together the area of all sign faces visible from any one point. When a sign having two faces is such that both faces cannot be viewed from any point at the same time, the sign area shall be computed by the measurement of the larger of the two faces. For purposes of calculating window signs, a window shall be considered the glazed area. Signs which are required by county, state or federal agencies are exempt from calculation of permanent and temporary signage up to the minimum size required by such agencies. The area of the sign in excess of the minimum shall be subject to the sign calculation. In the event that no size requirement is imposed by such agency, the sign shall not exceed one square foot. Neon signs and internally illuminated signs shall be subject to modified area computations specified elsewhere in this chapter.

Measurement of height. The height of a freestanding sign shall be computed as the distance from the base of the sign at normal grade to the top of the highest attached component of the sign. Normal grade shall be construed to be the lower of existing grade prior to construction or the newly established grade after construction, exclusive of any filling, berming, mounding or excavation solely for the purpose of locating the sign. In cases in which the normal grade cannot reasonably be determined, sign height shall be computed on the assumption that the elevation of the normal grade at the base of the sign is equal to the elevation of the nearest point of the crown of a public road or the grade of the land at the principal entrance to the principal structure on the lot, whichever is lower.

Signs shall be in harmony and consistent with the architecture of the building and relate to the features of the building in terms of location, scale, color, lettering, materials, texture and depth. Signs shall not be dominant but shall be proportionate and shall complement the building, existing signs and surroundings.

There shall be consistent sign design throughout a particular project. The design elements include style of lettering, construction material, size and illumination.

Freestanding signs shall be integrated with the landscaping on site.

Building signs shall not obscure, conflict with or cover any architectural element and must be aligned with major building elements such as windows, trim and structure lines.

No sign shall extend or project above the highest elevation of the wall to which it is attached or above the lowest part of the roofline of the building, whichever is less.

No electric wiring associated with a sign shall be visible to public view.

Illuminated signs.

One flag per business premises displaying only a generic logo or design shall be allowed. Such flag shall be no larger than three by five feet, and it must be hung from the ground floor facade at least 10 feet above ground level, and it shall project no more than three feet from the building facade.

No off-site advertising sign shall be erected, used or maintained with the Borough of Madison; provided, however, that this regulation shall not apply to temporary signs, otherwise permitted by this subsection, that advertise special events sponsored by nonprofit social, religious, political or cultural organizations or institutions, or lawful sandwich boards.

No signs shall be placed on fences, utility poles, trees, railway or road bridges, bridge supports or abutments, retaining walls, or water towers unless approved by the Borough Council.

No roof sign, known also as a "sky sign," shall be allowed.

No sign shall be placed on an accessory building.

No sign shall be lighted by means of a flashing light, nor shall any sign be in whole or in part moving, mobile, revolving, electrically or mechanically activated, or give the illusion of movement.

No sign shall be allowed with optical illusion of movement by means of a design which presents a pattern capable of reverse perspective, giving the illusion of motion or changing of copy.

No commercial sign shall be allowed in a window which serves a residential use.

No signs shall be allowed on any street furniture.

No televised advertising in a window shall be allowed.

The use and display of temporary portable signs or windsocks, banners or strings or streamers of flags, pennants or spinners or similar objects and devices across, upon, over or along any premises or building, whether as part of any sign or for advertising or public attraction, or otherwise, is prohibited in any zone, except for:

No signs shall be allowed that are placed on or affixed to vehicles and/or trailers which are parked on a public right-of-way, public property or private property so as to be visible from a public right-of-way where the apparent purpose is to advertise a product, service or activity or direct people to a business or activity located on the same or nearby property. This is not intended, however, to prohibit signs placed on or affixed to vehicles or trailers where the sign is incidental to the primary use of the vehicle or trailer.

No sign shall be allowed which obstructs any window or door opening used as a means of egress, interferes with an opening required for legal ventilation, or is attached to or obstructs any standpipe, fire escape or fire hydrant.

No sign shall be allowed which obstructs the view of vehicle operators or pedestrians entering a public roadway from any parking area, service drive, public driveway, alley or other thoroughfare.

No trademarks or brand names on any sign (including umbrella signs) shall be allowed when the commodity is not available in the establishment.

No sign element shall be interpreted as part of the architectural element of the building, with the exception of a marquee of a functioning theater.

No inflatable signs and tethered balloons shall be allowed, except decorative small balloons.

No neon or gas-filled decorations which outline facade elements or windows are allowed, with the exception of a marquee of a functioning theater.

No temporary signs shall be allowed except as detailed in Subsection E(1).

LED (light-emitting diode) signs are prohibited with the exception of those standards provided in § 195-33B(2)(k) that apply to gas stations; however, the use of LED technology as an indirect light source for signs is permitted, provided the LED source is not visible or used to comprise any part of the sign lettering, logo or external display face.

No nonconforming sign may be enlarged or altered in a way which would increase its nonconformity. Existing nonconforming permanent signs may continue to exist; however, when the sign is modified either in shape, size, illumination or structure, the sign shall be altered to conform to the provisions of this section. Notwithstanding the above, all sandwich boards must receive a permit.

Should any nonconforming sign be damaged by any means to an extent of more than 50% of its replacement cost at time of damage, it shall not be reconstructed except in conformity with the provisions of this section.

In the event a business ceases operation for a period of time in excess of 60 days, the sign owner or lessee, or the property owner, shall immediately remove any sign identifying or advertising said business or any product sold thereby. Upon failure of the sign owner or lessee, or property owner to comply with this section, the Zoning Officer shall issue a written notice to the sign owner or any lessee and to the property owner, which notice shall state that such sign shall be removed with the following time period:

If the sign owner or lessee, or property owner, fails to comply with such written notice to remove, the Zoning Officer is hereby authorized to cause removal of such sign, and any expenses incidental to such removal shall be charged to the owner of the property upon which the sign is located and shall constitute a lien upon the property. For the purpose of this section, the word "remove" shall mean: