Protect property values.

Create a more attractive economic and business climate.

Enhance and protect Southold's physical appearance and environment.

Preserve the historic and architectural heritage of the Town.

Provide a more enjoyable and pleasing community.

Reduce sign or advertising distraction and obstructions that may contribute to traffic accidents.

Reduce hazards that may be caused by signs overhanging or projecting over public rights-of-way.

The provisions of this article shall apply in all districts.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, signs shall not hereafter be erected, structurally altered, enlarged or moved or reconstructed within the Town unless a permit is obtained from the Building Inspector and payment of a required fee per sign in accordance with the Town of Southold fee as specified in Subsection F below.[1]

Application for a sign permit shall be made on a form provided by the Building Inspector, which application shall include:

The Building Inspector shall review the proposed sign and can approve, deny or condition a permit based on the provisions of this Code. The Planning Board may approve signs which differ from the quantitative requirements set forth in this article in the site review process, provided that a finding is made that said sign or signs conform to the general design principles outlined in § 280-82 hereof, and provided further that no sign shall violate the sign prohibitions and general restrictions listed in § 280-83 herein.

If the sign does not comply with the provisions of this Code, application for a variance may be made to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Signs should be a subordinate part of the streetscape.

Signs should be as small as practicable.

Signs should be as close to the ground as possible, consistent with required safety and legibility considerations.

A sign should have an appropriate size relationship to the building upon which it is placed.

Whenever feasible, multiple signs should be combined into one sign to avoid clutter.

A sign should not impair the visual effectiveness of neighboring signs.

Garish colors and materials should be avoided.

Signs which have dark background colors and light letters are preferred in order to minimize the apparent size of signs within the streetscape.

Generally, signs on the same building should be within the same horizontal band and be of a similar height.

Except in carefully designed circumstances, signs should be integrated with fences, walls or buildings and not be freestanding.

Sign material should be durable, requiring little maintenance; use of material such as corrugated plastic, natural aluminum, bulbous plastic letters, nontextured plastic and glass tile should be avoided.

Unless otherwise provided herein, nonaccessory signs, billboards, off-premises signs and mobile signs shall be prohibited in all districts.

Flashing signs, including any sign or attraction device on which the artificial light is not maintained stationary and constant in intensity and color at all times when in use, are prohibited.

Signs which compete for attention with or may be mistaken for a traffic signal are prohibited. No sign shall be erected in such a manner as to obstruct free and clear vision for drivers; interfere with, mislead or confuse traffic; or be located where, by reason of its position, shape or color, such sign may interfere with, obstruct the view of or be confused with any authorized traffic sign, signal or device by making use of the words "stop," "look" or any other word, phrase, symbol or character or red, green or amber illumination or reflection.

Balloons or other gas-filled figures shall be prohibited.

Permanent exterior signs made out of cardboard, paper, canvas or similar impermanent material are prohibited.

Signs or attraction devices with visible moving, revolving or rotating parts, such as flags, banners or pennants, are prohibited.

Except for holiday seasons or a period of 15 days from the date of a grand opening, no sign or part thereof shall consist of pennants, ribbons, streamers, spinners or other similar moving, fluttering or revolving devices.

Signs noting that a property has been sold are prohibited.

No portable or temporary sign shall be placed on the front face of any building or upon any lot, except as provided in § 280-85G herein.

No signs other than signs placed by agencies of the government shall be erected on any public property, unless consent is first obtained from the Building Department. No sign shall be placed on any private property without the consent of the owner thereof. No sign shall be placed or painted on any tree or rock. No sign shall be placed on any utility pole except for utility identification or similar purposes.

Business center directory signs.

Contractor signs. A contractor, tradesperson, architect or building supplier may erect one name sign each on the site of construction during the period of work. The sign area may not exceed three square feet and may be attached to a stake in the ground located at least 15 feet from the street line. All contractor signs must be removed prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the construction.

Farm, garden or nursery signs. Signs may be allowed advertising only the sale of farm, garden, animal or nursery products grown on Eastern Long Island and the name of the farm, garden or nursery.

Freestanding signs. One freestanding sign is allowed for each frontage, on a public street or way, subject to the following requirements:

Historic signs. A sign is an historic sign if it existed prior to 1970 and has not been significantly altered since then. When the historic nature of the sign has been established to the satisfaction of the Building Inspector, he may allow the reconstruction, repair and maintenance of historic signs for so long as the sign maintains the original size, appearance and location.

Informational/directional signs. Signs are allowed which state open, closed, business hours, phone numbers and generic directions to the facility, parking service and products. Informational/directional signs shall be a maximum of three square feet in size.

Nameplates. Nonilluminated nameplates containing only names or professional signs containing only name and professional designation may be allowed.

Nonprofit organization directory signs. One directory sign may be erected in each hamlet to identify nonprofit and civic organizations within the hamlet, subject to the size and location requirements of the business directory sign.

Political signs.

Real estate signs. One sign shall be allowed to advertise the sale or lease of real property. The sign may be either single- or double-faced and not larger than six square feet in size. The sign shall be located at least 15 feet from the public right-of-way. All real estate signs must be removed immediately upon closing on the lease or sale. This sign may be allowed in any zone.

Roof signs.

Subdivision signs. A sign shall be allowed to advertise the sale or lease of a subdivision of properties if the subdivision has a public road frontage of 500 feet or more. The sign may be either single- or double-faced and not larger than 24 square feet in size. The sign shall be located at least 15 feet from the street line. Said sign must be removed upon sale or lease of all properties within the subdivision. This sign may be allowed in any zone.

Temporary signs. The erection, installation or maintenance of temporary signs, as defined herein, is hereby prohibited, except as specified below:

Tourist directional signs. Tourist-related businesses (i.e., hotel, motel, marina, restaurant) which are located off Route 48 or 25 may have a generic eight-by-twenty-four-inch sign on one of those roads.

Wall signs. A wall sign or signs are allowed on the building wall, subject to all of the following requirements:

Window signs. A "permanent window sign" means any sign which is painted on the window or is made of materials other than cardboard, paper or canvas. A permanent window sign or combination of signs shall not cover more than 10% of the total glass area upon which, or in which, it is affixed, displayed or painted. If the window sign exceeds 10% of the window space, it shall be treated as a wall sign and is subject to the size restrictions contained therein.

The following signs will be allowed in the residential areas of the Town, which shall include all areas zoned A-C, R-40, R-80, R-120, R-200, R-400, HD and AHD:

The following additional sign shall be allowed in the A-C zone: a farm, garden or nursery shall be allowed to have the signage permitted in business areas.

The following signs will be allowed in the business areas of the Town, which shall include all areas zoned RR, RO, LB, HB, B, MI, MII, LIO and LI:

Marinas may have a separate wall sign for the wall frontage facing the waterfront area they serve.

Except as provided below, a sign may only be lit from an external source. The sign must be shielded so that the source of light is not visible from adjacent streets or properties and so that the illumination is concentrated on the sign.

Both neon and internally illuminated signs are prohibited, except that freestanding, business center and wall signs in shopping centers or in areas zoned Hamlet Business may be internally illuminated. An existing sign which is capable of internal illumination may continue in use in other zones if the lights are not turned on.

Farm, garden or nursery signs may only be illuminated during the hours of business operations.

Wiring, raceways and appliances of a sign illuminated by electricity from outside shall conform to the regulations of the fire underwriters and shall bear the appropriate stamp signifying such conformity.

The beneficiary of a sign and the owner of the premises on which such sign is located shall be jointly liable to maintain such sign, including its illumination sources, in a neat and orderly condition and good working order at all times and to prevent the development of any rust, corrosion, rotting or other deterioration in the physical appearance or safety of such sign.

If the Building Inspector determines that any sign regulated herein is unsafe, damaged, deteriorated, is an immediate peril to person or property, has been erected on property other than private property or is in violation of the provisions of this chapter, such sign may be removed and disposed of by the Town without prior notice. Upon such removal, all costs and expenses incurred by the Town for the removal of such sign shall be the responsibility of the owner or beneficiary of such sign. The Town may pursue any and all remedies available at law to recover any unpaid costs associated with removal of any sign, including filing a statement with the Town Assessors identifying the property in connection with which such expenses were incurred and the owner thereof as shown on the latest assessment roll of the Town. The Assessors, in the preparation of the next assessment roll, shall assess such amount upon such property. Such amount shall be included in the levy against such property, shall constitute a lien and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time and under the same penalty as is provided by law for the collection and enforcement of real property taxes in the Town of Southold.

At the discretion of the Building Inspector, a sign may be stored by the Town and notice given by certified mail or personal service to the owner and/or beneficiary of the sign. Such sign may be redeemed by the owner or beneficiary upon payment of the removal and storage costs. Any sign stored by the Town and not redeemed within 30 days of the date of mailing may be disposed of without additional notice.

The owner of property upon which a sign is located or any person that erects, installs or maintains a sign in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of an offense punishable by a fine not to exceed $500 per sign or imprisonment not to exceed 15 days, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Any sign which holds a permit under the prior repealed Code but which does not conform to the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a nonconforming sign. A nonconforming sign may be continued, without enlargement, reconstruction or relocation, until it loses its nonconforming status through the occurrence of any of these events:

When a sign loses its nonconforming status, it shall be brought into compliance with this Code and obtain a new permit, or it shall be removed.