No sign shall be erected or altered without a permit granted by the Building Commissioner, except as otherwise provided herein. All signs, other than temporary signs, shall be subject to review and approval by the Architectural Review Committee under § 164-10.2C.

All applications for sign permits shall include a sketch or photograph of the proposed sign showing size, colors, and materials used, and a site plan for the associated property showing the height and proposed location of the sign as well as locations of buildings, driveways, street lines, and pavement edges, as well as the location of any trees or shrubbery which might interfere with traffic visibility.

The following signs may be erected without a permit granted by the Building Commissioner, provided that they conform in all respects to height setback, and other restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this By-law:

Temporary Sign Permits. Upon at least 24 hours notice, the Building Commissioner may issue, permits for the erection of signs advertising yard or garage sales, special events, and the like. Not more than 5 such signs shall be permitted per event. Such signs shall conform to the bylaw in all other respects and shall be removed within 24 hours after the end of the event. Such signs shall meet the dimensional requirement set forth in § 164-9.10, but shall not exceed 6 square feet in sign area.

Fees. Fees may be charged for the issuance of a sign permit in accordance with a schedule determined by the Select Board.

Projecting signs of up to 3 square feet in area are permitted to project over walkways and shall maintain a clearance height of 8 feet below the bottom of the sign. No sign shall project over any lot line or any way intended for vehicular traffic.

No sign affixed to any building shall project more than 4 feet in any direction beyond the exterior walls of such building. Such signs shall meet the dimensional requirement set forth in § 164-9.10.

Banner signs are permitted in all business districts for not more than 4 calendar days in any one calendar month. There is a limit of 1 and a temporary sign permit is required, which permit shall not be for longer than 4 months. All banner signs are subject to § 164-9.10.

Notwithstanding anything else contained in Article IX to the contrary, banners advertising Town sponsored events or any other events which the Select Board determine after due consideration provide significant public benefit, may be placed at a location across Main Street and or Eldredge Park Way provided that any such banner and its location is approved by the Select Board or, if designated by the Select Board, the Town Manager. In the event multiple requests are made for common time period the Select Board or the Town Manager, as the case may be, may give preference in scheduling and location to Town sponsored events. Banner(s) shall be no more than 20 feet in length and 2 feet in height and shall be strung in such a manner so the bottom of the banner is 15 feet off the road surface. Any such banner shall be temporary in nature and removed as soon as practicable after the event to which it refers has ended. The Select Board is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and regulations as they deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this paragraph.

Eldredge Park Sponsorship Banner Signs.

Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, banner signs may be displayed at the Town-owned property shown as Parcel 1 on the Town Assessor's Map 41 and known as Eldredge Park, by non-profit organizations having a license or use agreement with the Town for the use of Eldredge Park, subject to the following conditions:

Any sign which employs intermittent or flashing lights, whirling or similar moving devices, or which emits any loud sounds.

Any internally illuminated sign.

Off-premise signs. Off premise signs shall be prohibited except:

Billboards.

Signs attached to trees or utility poles.

Temporary signs except as described in § 164-9.2D or § 164-9.2C(2).

Inflatable signs.

Sandwich board or A-frame type signs that exceed 6 square feet in area.

Size and Location.

Waiver of Setback Requirement. In cases where the distance from the pavement edge to the property line exceeds 10 feet, the setback requirement may be waived on recommendation of the Planning Board and Traffic Study Committee, and setbacks may be computed from the pavement edge instead of the property line. In no case shall any sign be located closer than 1 foot from any property line.

Number of Signs: No business shall have more than 3 signs other than accessory signs not requiring permits as described elsewhere in this Bylaw. No residence shall have more than 1 sign.

A sign permit shall become void for any sign which is not erected within 6 months of date of issuance of such permit.

All signs for which permits are required shall be subject to inspection to check conformance to site plan and Bylaw restrictions. Requests for inspection shall be made to the Building Commissioner within 10 days of erection of any sign requiring a permit.

A sign that is determined by the Building Commissioner to be in violation of this section shall be removed or modified within 10 business days of such determination.

Preexisting, nonconforming signs. Permanent signs that do not conform to this section, lawfully erected before enactment of this section, or permanent signs not yet erected but for which permits have been granted prior to enactment of this section may be erected and/or maintained, provided that such erection shall take place within 90 days of enactment of this section.

Sign permits shall be deemed to be associated with the use, service or activity with which the sign is associated and shall become void 30 days after such use, service or activity ceases. Signs whose permits have become void under this provision shall be removed promptly by the end of this 30-day period. Signs for uses, services or activities of a seasonal nature that are removed during the off-season may be re-erected, and their permits remain in effect, provided that a period of 1 year has not elapsed since removal of the sign.

Alterations to a preexisting, nonconforming sign shall require the sign to come into compliance with all of the requirements herein. For the purpose of this section, alterations shall consist of changes in any way including change in structure, location, design or lettering.