Floodlighting of any sign shall be arranged so that the source of light is not visible nor glare is detected from any property line or vehicular access and that only the sign is illuminated.

Information or public service signs, including those for public telephones, public conveniences, and signs advertising meeting times and places for nonprofit service or charitable organizations, not exceeding three square feet in area.

Official traffic signs.

On-premises regulatory or informational signs required by federal or state law or regulation governing a permitted use.

Hunting and trespassing signs not exceeding two square feet in area.

Signs indicating the private nature of a drive.

Temporary real estate sales or rent signs not exceeding nine square feet in area, provided they are removed within 14 days of the signing of an agreement.

Memorial or historic markers not exceeding nine square feet in area.

Temporary yard or garage sale placed on the property on which the sale is occurring, provided that the sign does not exceed four square feet in area and is removed within 48 hours of the completion of the sale.

Temporary contractor signs for work being performed not exceeding nine square feet in area, provided they are removed within 14 days of the work completion date.

Informational signs, message boards or digital displays erected by the Township.

Political and personal viewpoint signs not exceeding nine square feet in area.

Display of signs for more than 60 days will require conversion to permanent sign status or shall be removed by the installer/applicant.

The site or building on which the sign was erected shall be restored to its original condition upon removal of a sign.

Wall-mounted signs shall not exceed four square feet in area for each linear foot of building wall. Wall-mounted signs shall not exceed 100 square feet in area. Their maximum height shall be 25 feet above ground level.

Freestanding signs not exceeding 110 square feet in area and 25 feet in height.

Projecting signs not exceeding 10 square feet in area.

Canopy signs not exceeding 10 square feet in area.

Spanner signs at a convenience store with gasoline sales not exceeding 10 square feet in area.

Wall-mounted signs shall not exceed four square feet in area for each linear foot of building wall. Wall-mounted signs shall not exceed 120 square feet in area.

Freestanding signs shall not exceed 100 square feet in area. The maximum height of freestanding signs shall be 25 feet.

Support the First Amendment rights of advertisers to promote legal products and services while retaining the sense of community and protecting the character of the Township;

Ensure that billboards are provided for in the Township and located safely and appropriately where they can be viewed by the traveling public with the least distraction and degradation to the public safety;

Provide billboards and electronic advertising in a manner demonstrated to be compatible with the historic, natural and rural character of the Township in terms of size, location, visual prominence from areas other than the adjacent highway, and materials and finishes used in construction;

To prevent billboards and electronic advertising from having a negative impact on neighborhoods (particularly residentially zoned or used properties) in terms of visual blight, light pollution, or decreased property value;

To prevent billboards and electronic advertising from having a negative impact on designated historic sites or structures in terms of visual blight, light pollution, or decreased property value;

To advance the mission of the International Dark-Sky Association and maintain the Township's nighttime environment by reducing light pollution through lighting practices that provide:

Billboards may only be erected and maintained in the LI Limited Industrial and MSI Medical Service Institutional Zoning Districts, limited to those properties with frontage on state roadways.

Size. The display face of a billboard shall not exceed 50 square feet in area, unless the applicant can establish before the Zoning Hearing Board during the special exception hearing that the content of the billboard could not be read from any point along the road frontage and that the permitted size is not adequate for the conveyance of any advertising messages to passing motorists. If the applicant is able to establish the above, then the billboard shall not be permitted to exceed 300 square feet in area, but in any event shall be no larger than is necessary to be read and conveyed to passing motorists. If present, nondisplay physical borders around the display image shall not exceed six inches on a side.

Billboards shall not exceed 20 feet in height.

Billboard to billboard setback. Billboards shall be set back a minimum of 1,000 feet from any other billboard.

Setback from road right-of-way. Billboards shall be set back from the right-of-way a minimum of 40 feet. No part of a billboard shall be set back more than 70 feet from the nearest street right-of-way.

Setback from street intersections. All billboards must be set back at least 500 feet from all street intersections, measured from the point of intersection of the center lines of the intersecting streets or traffic merging lanes.

Setback from residential dwelling unit. Except as governed by a greater setback required herein, all billboards must be set back a minimum of 150 feet from the boundary of the R1, R2, R3 and R4 Zoning Districts and 500 feet from the boundary of any property on which a residential dwelling unit is situated. Moreover, the applicant must establish that the billboard will be screened such that the face of the billboard will not be visible from an existing residential dwelling unit. With respect to such setback as applied from any existing residential dwelling unit, the 150-foot setback may be reduced if the owner of such dwelling unit agrees in writing to the placement of such sign as memorialized by an easement filed with the Chester County Recorder of Deeds.

Public health, safety and welfare. The applicant shall bear the burden of establishing that the proposed billboard will not create a public health, welfare or safety concern.

Billboard design. The billboard structure shall be designed as an architecturally decorative feature or shall be screened with vegetation. In no case shall the supporting structure be designed to increase the apparent size of the billboard or to otherwise increase its visual prominence.

Structural engineer. The applicant shall be required to submit an attestation from a structural engineer, registered in Pennsylvania, to certify that the proposed billboard is properly constructed pursuant to all applicable codes, to certify the viability of the construction of the foundation and erection of the structure for the proposed billboard. The applicant shall further submit a report from an engineer to set forth the wind tolerances of the proposed billboard.

Landscape plan. The applicant shall submit a plan prepared by a landscape architect showing landscaping proposed to be installed to screen and buffer the billboard. Existing vegetation on and around the proposed billboard shall be preserved to the greatest extent possible. All proposed landscaping shall comply with the requirements of the Township's Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[1] Applicants shall submit a visual survey from mutually agreed upon vantage points in order to support the proposed landscaping plan's mitigation of visual impacts.

Electrical service. All billboards shall be serviced by underground electrical wiring.

Access. Billboards shall be properly and adequately secured to prevent unauthorized access, with such features as a locked ladder way.

Electronic billboards may only be erected and maintained in the LI Limited Industrial and MSI Medical Service Institutional Zoning Districts, limited to those properties with frontage on state roadways. Electronic billboards shall not exceed 12 feet in height.

Electronic billboards shall have dimming capability to allow adjustment of the electronic sign brightness when required by the Township to compensate for local ambient conditions.

Electronic billboards shall be set back from the right-of-way a minimum of 20 feet. No part of an electronic billboard shall be set back more than 60 feet from the nearest street right-of-way.

Electronic billboards shall not be located within 1,000 feet of an intersection, interchange or traffic-merging lanes.

Electronic billboards may not contain any fading; flashing; modulating; scrolling; moving lights; text or graphics; any full-motion video; or any visible change during the change interval period.

Change interval. Electronic billboards shall have a minimum of 12 seconds between message changes.

Transition interval. Electronic billboards must provide a maximum transition interval of one second.

Electronic billboard lighting shall be automatically extinguished so as to not operate before 7:00 a.m. or after 11:00 p.m. On/off lighting control shall be by programmable controller with astronomic dial and semiannual time change control, and spring or capacitor or battery memory storage of clock settings during power outages.

Illumination and sign face brightness shall be automatically controlled so that at no point on the electronic sign or billboard shall the luminance exceed 100 cd/m² nits with a full white board face during hours of darkness. In addition:

The electronic billboard shall contain a default mechanism that will freeze the sign display in one position if a malfunction occurs, or shut down and show "full black" on the display.

Message sequencing shall be prohibited.

No electronic billboard shall shine or reflect light into adjacent residences.

The electronic billboard nighttime light output shall be capable of being dimmed if the Township so requires, to the extent that the illumination is deemed to constitute a nuisance or a hazard to the public.

Electronic billboards must be oriented so that they are perpendicular to the adjacent roadway.

Externally illuminated electronic billboards shall be lighted by fixtures mounted at the top of the sign and aimed downward. Such fixtures shall be automatically extinguished between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and dawn, except as otherwise permitted in this chapter.

Electronic billboards shall not resemble or simulate any warning or danger signal or any official traffic control device, sign, light, or emergency vehicle lights.

Electronic billboards shall be set back from the right-of-way a minimum of 15 feet, or a distance equivalent to 1.1 times their height, whichever is greater. No part of an electronic billboard shall be set back more than 60 feet from the nearest street right-of-way.

Electronic billboards shall be subject to all applicable rear and side yard building setbacks. No portion of any sign shall project over a lot line, and in no case shall be within a setback area from the rear or side yards equivalent to a distance of 1.1 times the height of the sign.

A sign permit applicant must obtain all necessary outside agency approvals prior to erection of an electronic billboard, including, but not limited to, approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, as may be required. The applicant is required to provide the Township with any such agency approvals prior to the issuance of a permit for a sign. PennDOT and any outside agency approval shall not constitute Township approval.

The owner and/or operator of any billboard or electronic billboard shall provide (and maintain with) the Township with their current address and contact information.

Support the First Amendment rights of advertisers to promote legal products and services while retaining the sense of community and protecting the character of the Township;

Provide electronic advertising in a manner demonstrated to be compatible with the historic, natural and rural character of the Township in terms of size, location, visual prominence from areas other than the adjacent highway, and materials and finishes used in construction;

To prevent electronic advertising from having a negative impact on neighborhoods (particularly residentially zoned or used properties) in terms of visual blight, light pollution, or decreased property value;

To prevent electronic advertising from having a negative impact on designated historic sites or structures in terms of visual blight, light pollution, or decreased property value.

Electronic signs shall have dimming capability to allow adjustment of the electronic sign brightness when required by the Township to compensate for local ambient conditions.

Electronic signs shall be set back from the legal right-of-way a minimum of 10 feet.

Electronic signs may not contain any fading; flashing; modulating; scrolling; moving lights; text or graphics; any full-motion video; or any visible change during the change interval period.

Change interval. Electronic signs shall have a minimum of 12 seconds between message changes.

Transition interval. Electronic signs must provide a maximum transition interval of one second.

Illumination and sign face brightness shall be automatically controlled so that at no point on the electronic sign shall the luminance exceed 100 cd/m² nits with a full white board face during hours of darkness. In addition:

The electronic sign shall contain a default mechanism that will freeze the sign display in one position if a malfunction occurs, or shut down and show "full black" on the display.

Message sequencing shall be prohibited.