To maintain and preserve the Borough of Peapack and Gladstone as a pleasing and attractive environment so as to improve the quality of life of all residents of the Borough.

To aid in preserving and enhancing the aesthetic, environmental and historic character of the Borough.

To protect, conserve and enhance property values.

To enable the identification of places of residence and business.

To allow for the communication of information necessary for the conduct of commerce.

To minimize the size and number of signs and sign messages necessary to identify a residential or business location and the nature of any such business.

To lessen hazardous situations, confusion and visual clutter caused by proliferation, improper placement, illumination, animation, excessive height, area and bulk of signs which compete for the attention of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Any public notice or warning required by a valid and applicable Federal, State or local law, regulation or chapter.

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 (3) 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.

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 (4) 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 Peapack and Gladstone, 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 sixty (60) square feet in area and is not flown from a pole in excess of forty (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 (3) flags may be flown from any one (1) pole. The statutory requirements associated with flags and general accepted standards of flag display etiquette shall be observed.

Signs forbidding, trespassing, hunting, fishing or trapping as authorized by the fish and game laws not to exceed one (1) square foot in size and further provided that no such sign shall be located less than fifty (50) feet one from another.

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.

Decorative flags.

Farm and residential property identification signs, street number designations, postal boxes and customary farm warning signs, in each case not to exceed two (2) square feet in area.

No sign except those exempted by paragraph b above shall be placed, constructed, 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. Signs which are not specifically allowed by this subsection shall be prohibited.

A Master Signage Plan shall accompany:

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

Site Plan Approval.

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 (1) 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 (2) display faces. The sign area for a sign with two (2) faces shall be computed by adding together the area of all sign faces visible from any one (1) point. When a sign having two (2) 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 (2) faces. For purposes of calculating window signs, a window shall be considered the glazed area.

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.

Illuminated Signs.

No off-site advertising sign shall be erected, used or maintained within the Borough of Peapack and Gladstone; provided, however, 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.

No signs shall be placed on fences, utility poles or trees (other than signs permitted under subsection 23-40.16b7), railway or road bridges, bridge supports or abutments, retaining walls, storage tanks 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 or revolving or electrically or mechanically activated.

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

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 the view of vehicle operators or pedestrians entering a public roadway from any parking area, service drive, public driveway, alley or other thoroughfare.

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

No temporary signs shall be allowed except as detailed in paragraph j.

In order to qualify for nonconforming use for signage status, the use or sign must have been lawful under the land use regulation in effect at its commencement, or predate applicable land use regulation, or have received prior approval from the required approving authority.

No nonconforming sign may be enlarged or altered in a way which would increase its nonconformity. All nonconforming signs not otherwise prohibited by the provisions of this section or mentioned in paragraph g1 above shall be removed or shall be altered to conform to the provisions of this section when the sign is changed or modified either in shape, size, illumination or structure.

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

The sign face, along with posts, columns or supports of freestanding signs, shall be taken down and removed from the property.

The sign face and supporting structures of projecting, roof or wall signs shall be taken down and removed from the property.