Prosperity City Zoning Code

SIGNS

§ 153.140 GENERAL PROVISIONS.

(A) District classification. For the purposes of this chapter the following shall apply:

(1) Residential (R) shall include the following districts: R-10 and R-7;

(2) Commercial (C) shall include the following districts:

(a) Neighborhood Commercial (NC);

(b) Core Commercial (CC); and

(3) Industrial (I) shall include the following districts:

(a) Limited Industrial (LI); and

(b) Basic Industrial (BI).

(B) Permit required.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, it shall be unlawful for any person to erect, construct enlarge, move or replace any sign or cause the same to be done, without first having obtained a sign permit for such sign from the Zoning Administrator as required by this chapter. A fee, in accordance with a fee schedule adopted by the Town Council, shall be charged for each sign permit issued.

(2) Notwithstanding the above, changing or replacing the copy on an existing lawful sign shall not require a permit, provided the copy change does not change the nature of the sign such as to render the sign in violation of this chapter.

(1) All lighted signs shall have their lighting directed in such a manner as to illuminate only the face of the sign. All lighted signs shall meet all applicable Electrical Codes.

(2) No commercial sign within 100 linear feet of a pre-existing residential structure may be illuminated between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. A residence shall be deemed “pre-existing” for purposes in this section if it has a valid building permit in effect for construction of said structure or if construction of said structure was complete on or prior to the effective date of this provision.

(D) Maintenance and upkeep of signs. All signs and all components thereof, including supports, braces, anchors, etc., shall be kept in a good state of repair, in compliance with all building and electrical codes, and in conformance with the requirements of this chapter. Any sign which is determined by the Zoning Administrator as being insecure, in danger of falling or otherwise endangering the public safety shall be immediately removed by its owner unless it is repaired and made to otherwise comply with the requirements of this chapter.

(E) Sign area and height.

(1) Sign surface area. The area of a geometric shape enclosing any message, logo, symbol, name, photograph, or display face.

(2) Sign frame area.

(a) The dimensions of a geometric shape formed by all supports, frames, braces, borders, and embellishments which extend beyond the sign surface area, and that enclose the sign surface area.

(b) All area provisions in this chapter are calculated from the sign surface area dimensions as defined above.

(c) In the case of signs mounted back-to-back, only one side of the sign is to be used for computation of the area. Back-to-back signs shall be defined as double-faced signs with faces 12 inches apart or less. Otherwise, the surface area of each sign is to be separately computed. In the case of cylindrical signs, signs in the shape of cubes, or other signs which are substantially 3-dimensional with respect to their display surfaces, the entire display surface or surfaces is included in computations of area. If a sign is attached to an entrance wall or fence, only that portion of that wall or fence onto which the sign face or letters are placed shall be calculated in the sign area.

(3) Sign height. The height of a sign shall be measured from the highest point of a sign to the point of ground surface beneath it. Ornamentation such as caps and spires are not included in this measurement. The use of berms or raised landscape areas is only permitted to raise the base of the sign to the mean elevation of the fronting street.

(Ord. passed - - )

§ 153.141 PROHIBITED SIGNS.

(A) Any sign which the Zoning Administrator determines obstructs the view of bicyclists or motorists using any street, approach to any street intersection, or which interferes with the effectiveness of or obscures any traffic sign, device, or signal shall be prohibited.

(B) Illuminated, highly reflective signs or spot lights which hamper the vision of motorists or bicyclists.

(C) Signs which contain lights, rotating disks, words and other devices not erected by a public authority which may be erroneously construed as government signs or emergency warning signs. An example of this is a sign which contains a picture of a traffic sign plus the word “stop,” “yield,” etc.

(D) Any sign located outdoors which interferes with free passage from or obstructs any fire escape, downspout, window, door, stairway, ladder, or opening intended as a means of ingress or egress or providing light or air.

(E) Any sign (other than a government sign), banner or display placed on any curb, sidewalk, post, pole, hydrant, bridge, tree, or other surface located on, over, or across any public street or right-of-way, or any banner, placed on stakes on a property, unless otherwise permitted. Banners shall be permitted on buildings and existing signs only.

(F) Any sign located in such a way as to intentionally deny an adjoining property owner visual access to an existing sign.

(G) Flashing signs, signs with flashing or reflective disks, signs with flashing lights or lights of changing degree of intensity or color or signs with electrically scrolled messages (except government signs and signs which give time and temperature information). If a time and temperature sign alternates between a time message and a temperature message it shall continuously show 1 message a minimum of 3 seconds in time before switching to the other message.

(H) Pole signs.

(I) Portable signs.

(J) Vehicular signs.

(K) Rotating signs, other than on premise rotating identification names which contain a log and/or business name on it.

(L) Roof signs.

(M) Off premise advertising signs (i.e. Billboards).

(N) Signs placed on a piece of property without permission of its owners or agent.

(O) Inflatable signs (including inflated balloons having a diameter of greater than 2 feet).

(P) Other signs not expressly permitted in this chapter.

(Q) Any sign whose sign face was initially constructed and designed to be placed and/or transported on wheels, regardless if said sign face is removed from its base and placed on or in the ground so as to otherwise classify said sign as a “free-standing” sign as herein defined.

(Ord. passed - - )

§ 153.142 SIGNS NOT REQUIRED PERMIT.

The following types of signs are exempt from permit requirements of § 153.140(C) of this chapter

and may be placed in any zoning district subject to the provisions of this chapter. Such signs shall otherwise be in conformance with all applicable requirements contained in this chapter. There shall be no limit as to the number of such signs on any lot, except as herein prescribed. All such signs (except government signs) shall be located outside a street right-of-way.

(A) Government signs and logo signs.

(B) Memorial signs, plaques or grave markers which are noncommercial in nature.

(C) Flags, pennants, insignia, or religious symbols of any government, non-profit or not-for-profit organization when not displayed in connection with a commercial promotion or as an advertising device. No such flag pole shall exceed 30 feet in height. Flags shall not exceed 60 square feet. Limit 3 per site.

(D) Integral decorative or architectural features of buildings; works of art; so long as such features or works do not contain letters, trademarks, moving parts or lights.

(E) Public interest signs.

(F) On-premise directional and instructional signs not exceeding 4 square feet in area a piece.

(G) Identification signs for residential uses (including home occupations) not exceeding 4 square feet in area (1 only per premises).

(H) Campaign and election signs provided that:

(1) Each sign shall not exceed 20 square feet in area.

(2) All such signs may be erected no sooner than 30 days in advance of the election for which they were made.

(3) All such signs shall be removed within 7 days after the election for which they were made.

(4) The property owner upon whose land the sign is placed shall give written permission for the placement of said signs and will be held responsible for violations.

(5) No sign shall be placed in any right-of-way, on any telephone pole or street sign, or on any public property.

(I) Temporary real estate signs advertising a specific property for sale, lease, rent or development shall be located as follows:

(1) One sign per street frontage advertising real estate ("for sale", "for rent", "for lease" or "for development") not greater than 10 square feet in area in a Residential (R) District and 32 square feet in area in non-residential districts may be located on the property being advertised so long as said sign is located behind the street right-of-way line. If the property so advertised lies on a corner lot or double frontage lot, then a second sign may be oriented along the second street so long as the 2 signs are at least 100 feet apart as measured by the shortest straight line.

(2) No sign allowed under this division shall be lighted.

(J) Temporary construction signs provided that:

(1) Signs in conjunction with any residential use shall not exceed 10 square feet each.

(2) Signs in conjunction with all other uses shall have a maximum area of 32 square feet each.

(3) Only 1 such sign oriented per street front per premises shall be erected. Any 2 such signs located on the same premises shall be located at least 100 feet apart as measured by using a straight line.

(4) Such signs shall not be illuminated.

(5) Such signs shall only appear at the construction site.

(6) Such signs shall be removed within 7 days after completion of the project.

(K) Temporary special event signs and banners for religious, charitable, civic, fraternal or similar non-profit or not-for-profit organizations provided that:

(1) Signs shall be erected no sooner than 7 days prior and removed no later than 2 days after the event.

(2) No such sign shall exceed 32 square feet.

(3) No such sign shall be illuminated.

(4) All such signs shall be located off the street right-of-way, unless otherwise granted permission for such location by the Town of Blythewood or SCDOT. In no case may any such sign impede on the view or travel of any motorists or pedestrians or be attached to any structure within the right-of-way (government signs, telephone poles, etc.).

(L) One on premise yard sale sign per yard sale. All such signs shall be removed within 24-hours after the yard sale has been terminated. No such sign shall be greater than 4 square feet in area. All such signs shall be located off the street right-of-way.

(M) Directional signs (for civic uses only) provided that:

(1) No more than 1 directional sign per principal use may be erected.

(2) All such signs shall be located off the road right-of-way.

(3) All such signs greater than 3 feet in height as measured from the grade of the road upon which it fronts shall be located outside the required sight triangle as defined by this chapter. All such signs shall not be illuminated.

(4) All directional signs shall be free-standing signs. Portable signs shall be prohibited.

(5) There shall be no greater than four directional signs on separate supports at the intersection of any 2 roads.

(6) A maximum of 4 signs may be placed on the same supports. The maximum area of any directional sign shall be 6 square feet.

(N) Window signs.

(O) “Warning,” “no trespassing” and similar informational signs.

(P) Signs located within a stadium intended to be read only by persons seated within the stadium.

(Q) Permanent municipal, school, recreational and civic club sponsored signs, schedule of events, rules and regulations signs. Such signs shall not include identification signs.

(R) Any sign inside a building, not attached to or placed within an external window or piece of glass that is not legible more than 3 feet beyond the building in which it is located.

(S) Signs placed on newspaper boxes designed for placement of delivered newspaper to a particular location.

(T) Historical plaques mounted in accordance with the United States Secretary of the Interior's standards for rehabilitation.

(U) Banners and flags for special events and grand openings, used in conjunction with a commercial building, project, or enterprise are permitted for a period not to exceed 14 days provided that:

(1) All banners shall be attached to frontage wall of a principal structure.

(2) No such banner shall be attached to a roof structure or above the second floor level.

(3) No such banner shall be attached to any existing signs, placed within a right-of-way, attached to any fences, strung between posts, or in any other method except as outlined in division (1).

(V) Sandwich board signs (or A-Frame signs) used in conjunction with a conforming building in the Office Commercial and Neighborhood Commercial Districts, provided the total area of each sign face does not exceed 8 square feet. Such signs may be placed on the sidewalk provided they do not impede with normal pedestrian traffic. Each building or shopfront is permitted a maximum of 1 sandwich board sign.

(Ord. passed - - )

§ 153.143 SIGNS REQUIRING PERMIT.

(A) Civic uses.

(1) Ground mounted;

(2) Max Area: 32 square feet;

(3) Max height: 6 feet; and

(4) Wall signs do not require a permit*.

(B) NC and CC Districts.

(1) Wall; max area: 10%; or

(2) Ground mounted; max area: 32 square feet; and max height: 6 feet.

(1) (a) Wall and ground mounted;

(b) Max wall area: 10%;

(d) Max height: 6 feet;

(e) One per street frontage - no closer than 1,000 feet - max 3; or

(2) (a) Wall only; and

(b) Max wall area: 15% of wall face.

(D) Multi-tenant identification.

(1) One per street frontage - no closer than 1,000 feet - max. 2;

(2) Max Area: 64 square feet;

(3) Max height: 6 feet (included shopping centers, office complexes, etc.); and

(4) No individual tenant ground mounted signs permitted.

(E) Residential neighborhood identification.

(1) One per entrance;

(2) Max area: 32 square feet; and

(3) Max height: 5 feet.

(F) Wall signs.

(1) The maximum permitted aggregate area of wall signs excludes the area of any windows or doorways.

(2) No wall signs hall project more than 18 inches from the building wall. Further, no wall sign or its supporting structure shall cover any window or part of a window, nor shall it extend beyond the highest point of a roof line, parapet, or mansard roof.

(3) Canopy and awning signs may be substituted for part or all of the allowable wall signage per premises. Signs may be painted or printed onto a canopy or awning. Canopies and awnings may only be illuminated externally (exception: service station canopies).

(4) Principal building walls and service station canopies may have signage on all faces which front on a public street. Such signage shall not exceed 10% of the building wall or canopy face.

(5) Wall signs should reflect the proportional and dimensional relationships of the structure.

(G) Ground mounted signs.

(1) All ground mounted signs shall be located a minimum of 5 feet behind the street right-of-way.

(2) No ground mounted sign greater than 5 square feet in area shall be located closer than 10 feet to any adjacent lot line. A 15 foot side-yard setback shall be required if the side lot line abuts a Residential District.