Chapter 17.621 — SIGNS

Sections: ARTICLE I. 17.62.010 Title and authority. 17.62.020 Findings and purposes. 17.62.030 Definitions. 17.62.040 Applicability. 17.62.050 General rules and interpretation. ARTICLE II. 17.62.060 Signs exempt from a sign permit. 17.62.070 Prohibited signs. 17.62.080 Applications, fees, processing, review, approvals--All signs. ARTICLE III. 17.62.090 Temporary signs located outside the historical commercial zoning district. 17.62.100 Permanent sign standards outside the historical commercial district. 17.62.110 Signs requiring a conditional use permit--Special findings. 17.62.120 Sign standards for the historical commercial (HC) zoning district. ARTICLE IV. 17.62.130 Requests for exceptions. 17.62.140 Findings for approval of an exception. ARTICLE V. 17.62.150 Sign maintenance. 17.62.160 Unsafe/hazardous signs. 17.62.170 Abandoned signs--Removal. 17.62.180 Nonconforming signs--Permitted when. 17.62.190 Nonconforming, abandoned or illegal signs--Removal. 17.62.200 Enforcement. ARTICLE I.

A. Title. This chapter shall be known and cited as the "City of Angels Sign Regulations."

B. Authority. This chapter is adopted pursuant to the authority vested in the city of Angels and the state of California, including but not limited to: the State Constitution, California Government Code Sections 38774, 38775, 65850 et seq. and 65850(b), California Business and Professions Code Sections 5200 et seq. and 5490 et seq., and California Civil Code Section 713 and other applicable state laws. (Ord. 552 (Att. A), 2025)

A. Findings. The city of Angels hereby finds as follows:

The city character is associated with its rural small-town charm, distinctive architecture, and historic tradition. Signs have a strong visual impact on this character. As a prominent part of the scenery, they attract or repel the viewing public, affect the safety of vehicular traffic, and their appearance, size, and placement help set the tone of the community. Since the city relies on these characteristics to attract commerce, aesthetic considerations assume economic value. It is the intent of the city, through this chapter, to protect and enhance the city’s historic, commercial, small-town and residential character and, therefore, its economic base through the provision of appropriate and visually appealing signage. In addition, it is the intent of the city to standardize sign requirements in order to minimize their distracting effect on drivers and thereby improve traffic safety.

B. Purposes. The purposes of these sign regulations are to:

1. Ensure that signs are designed, constructed, installed, located and maintained according to minimum standards to safeguard life, health, property and public welfare;

2. To protect and enhance the city’s unique character minimizing visual distractions and sign proliferation that can detract from the unique character of the city and its built environment;

3. Provide reasonable sign standards:

a. To encourage their effective and attractive use as a means of identification, rather than for advertising, businesses, services, events, and uses enhancing economic values while minimizing unnecessary sign competition;

• b. Attract and direct the public to available activities, goods, and services;

• c. For consistency with community goals and policies expressed in the general plan and adopted specific plans;

• d. Consistent with state and federal laws, including outdoor advertising regulations applicable to state highways;

4. Ensure that the designs of signs are architecturally compatible with affected structures and the character of surrounding development in order to maintain the overall quality of a neighborhood or commercial district;

5. Protect public safety by ensuring that official traffic regulation devices are easily visible and free from nearby visual obstructions and distractions (e.g., attentiongetting signs, excessive numbers of signs, signs resembling official signs);

6. Protecting the right of free speech by enacting regulations to regulate the time, place and manner under which signs are permitted, and not the content of signs. Although examples of content may be provided in these regulations, content will not be used as a basis for determining whether or not a proposed sign may be permitted. (Ord. 552 (Att. A), 2025)

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases have the meanings respectively ascribed to them as follows:

"A-frame sign," "portable sign" and "sandwich board sign" shall mean portable signs capable of standing without support or attachment and intended to be placed outside and returned to the inside of a building at the start and end of each business day. An A-frame sign is a double-sided sign attached at an apex whose legs provide a frame for plywood panels.

"Aggregate total glass surface area" shall mean the product of multiplying the length times the width of the storefront glass surface along a single building elevation with the proviso that window panel separations (mullions, grids, etc.) that are less than six inches wide shall be counted within the aggregate total glass surface area available for signage, and window panel separations or building structural elements separating windows that are greater than six inches shall not be included within the aggregate total glass surface area available for signage. In case of stores with more than one building elevation with window glass, the aggregate total glass surface area available for the placement of signage shall be calculated based on the dimensions of each individual elevation. Unused amounts of aggregate total glass surface area from one elevation shall not be applied to any other elevation.

"Amenity sign" means a wall-mounted or freestanding sign that promotes features and/or services of a commercial business.

"Animated sign" shall mean a sign with motion, flashing lights, or changes in color or intensity utilizing electricity or other sources of energy. This definition shall not include a sign which tells only time and temperature in alternating sequences.

Apartment Community. The term "apartment community" shall mean an apartment project which consists of a minimum of eight apartment units located on the same lot, which are for rent only.

"Area of sign" shall mean in computing maximum permissible sign area or display surface the overall display surface of a sign shall be included, or the largest face of a double sign and not the aggregate of display faces. The area of a sign without a border shall be computed by enclosing the entire sign within sets of parallel lines touching the outer limits of the sign message and computing the area thus enclosed.

"Awning" shall mean a structure composed of canvas or other noncanvas materials, except for the supporting framework, which extends from the exterior wall of a building.

"Awning sign" shall mean a sign composed of flexible materials and incorporated into an awning.

"Balloon" shall mean any inflatable sign or balloon regardless of size that is designed to be used as an advertising device for any business or promotional event.

"Banner sign" shall mean a temporary sign composed of lightweight, flexible, nonrigid material either enclosed or not enclosed in a rigid frame. "Banner signs" do not

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blow or move in the wind and are generally attached to a structure at four corners.

"Billboard" shall mean, in the city of Angels, an outdoor advertising device typically ranging in size from ten feet by thirty-six feet to fourteen feet by forty-eight feet in size. Billboards typically advertise a single entity.

"Blade sign" shall mean a pedestrian-oriented, non-internally illuminated double-faced sign, comprised of one individual panel, projecting from the building wall on which it is mounted. A blade sign cannot exceed a total of five square feet of signage per side, and cannot project more than thirty-six inches from the building wall on

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which it is mounted.

"Building facade" shall mean that portion of any exterior elevation of a building extending from grade to eaves, parallel to the street and extending the entire width of the building. Any area of the facade made up of false fronts and/or parapets cannot be included in the facade calculation for sign area.

"Building front" shall mean the wall surface facing the primary street. In case of a corner business, it shall be at the discretion of the owner which building face shall be considered the front.

"Bulletin board sign" shall mean an exterior sign used to display announcements pertaining to an on-site church, school, community center, park, hospital, or institutional building.

"Business front" shall mean the side of a building that contains the principal entrance. For a shopping center, multiple business fronts may exist.

• "Business sign" shall mean any structure, housing sign, device, figure, painting, display, message placard, or other contrivance, or any part thereof, which has been designed to advertise, or to provide data or information in the nature of advertising, for any of the following purposes:

1. To designate, identify, or indicate the name or business of the owner or occupant of the premises upon which the business sign is lawfully erected.

2. To advertise the business conducted, services available or rendered, or goods produced, sold, or available for sale upon the property where the business sign has been lawfully erected.

• "Canopy" shall mean a roof of a building or a fixed overhead shelter used as a roof, which may or may not be attached to a building.

• "Canopy sign" shall mean a sign attached to, written on, or hung from a canopy.

• "Changeable message board" or "changeable message sign" shall mean a programmable electronic sign temporarily used by the city of Angels, Caltrans, or authorized construction contractors to direct traffic during construction, temporary road closures or detours, emergencies, special events or related public functions or events.

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"Civic sign" shall mean a sign, other than a commercial sign, posted to advertise a civic event, public agency, school, church, civic-fraternal organization or similar noncommercial organization.

• "Coming soon sign" shall mean a sign placed on the site of work under construction stating that a business will be opening soon and denoting the opening date, architect, engineer, contractor, future business or lending agency.

• "Construction sign" shall mean a temporary sign with the names of the architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors and financing agencies of buildings and structures being constructed upon the site on which the sign is located.

• "Corner triangle" shall mean the triangular area created by a line connecting points along the front and side lot lines which points are established forty feet in distance from the intersection of the extension of such front and side lot lines within the street right-of-way, and by a line connecting points along the front lot line and driveway apron, which points are established ten feet in distance from the intersection of the extension of such front lot line and driveway apron within the perpendicular to the street right-of-way.

"Corporate flag" shall mean a flag identifying a business or firm.

• "Directional tract sign" shall mean an off-site temporary sign containing only the name and location of a subdivision and/or a multiple-family residential project and directions for reaching the project.

• "Double-faced sign" shall mean a sign with more than one face located on the same base or support structure and the sign advertising faces are back-to-back so that both faces cannot be viewed from any point at the same time, and the sign faces are not more than eighteen inches apart.

"Electronic reader board sign" shall mean a business sign on which the copy is manually or electronically changed and which is intended primarily to promote items for sale or of general interest to the community. This term includes a business bulletin board, a time/temperature sign, or other changeable copy sign. See also "changeable message board," "changeable message sign."

"Erect" shall mean to build, construct, attach, hang, place, suspend or affix. Such terms also include the painting of wall signs.

"Facade" shall mean the portion of any exterior elevation of a building extending from grade to the top of the parapet wall, or eaves, parallel to the street and extending the entire width of the building.

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"Feather flag" shall mean a type of temporary sign with a pole shaped similar to a feather/flag as pictured.

• "Flashing sign" shall mean an illuminated sign in which the artificial light is not maintained in a stationary or constant intensity.

• "Frontage property" shall mean the longest, single, lineal dimension of a parcel of property abutting on a public street.

• "Garage sale sign" shall mean a sign that is used to advertise the sale of used or secondhand goods or merchandise at dwellings and on residentially zoned property; these sales may also be known as patio sales, yard sales, estate sales, etc.

"Grand-opening signs" shall mean banners, pennants, flags, balloons, searchlights, and advertising devices when used only for bona fide grand-opening functions.

"Height" shall mean, in determining maximum or allowed height, the distance shall be measured from base of pole, or point where base of pole would be on level ground, to top of sign.

"Historic sign" shall mean an existing sign, or refurbishing of an existing sign, or re-creation of a sign that once existed on the subject site at least fifty years ago.

"Identification sign" shall mean a sign, or device, which serves exclusively to designate the name, or the name and use, of churches, auditoriums, public buildings, or multifamily residential uses, or the use of a lawful parking area, recreation area, or other use permitted in the district. "Illegal sign" shall mean signs and their supporting members which do not meet any of the criteria of this chapter and that are not otherwise a legal nonconforming sign.

"Illuminated sign" shall mean an internally or externally illuminated business sign which uses a source of light in order to make the message readable.

"Marquee" shall mean a fixed overhead shelter used as a roof, which may or may not be attached to a building, and which projects into or overhangs a public street or alley right-of-way.

"Marquee sign" shall mean a sign attached to or hung from a marquee and which is mounted in a vertical plane.

"Master sign program" or "master sign plan" shall mean a sign program approved by the city for a shopping center or other multi-occupant or mixed-use building.

"Mobile sign" shall mean any sign not permanently affixed to a vehicle that is used to advertise a business or service.

"Monument sign" shall mean an independent, freestanding sign structure supported on the ground by a solid base at least as wide as the sign, as opposed to being supported by poles or open braces.

• "Mural" shall mean a picture or decoration which is painted on, or otherwise applied directly to, an external wall. Murals integral to the architecture of the building shall not count as signage. Murals that do not include advertising shall be considered public art.

"Neon" shall mean illumination affected by a light source consisting of a LED or neon or other gas tube which is bent to form letters, symbols or other shapes.

"Nonconforming sign" shall mean any sign installed prior to the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter which does not meet the specifications and requirements of this chapter.

"Office building master identification sign" shall mean a business sign that serves to identify an office building or any institutional use, and whose copy shall include only the name of the building or institutional use and the street address range of the complex. "Official public sign" shall mean signs of a public nature, which shall include public transit service signs, utility information signs, public restroom or telephone signs, trespassing signs, city established monument signs, legal notices erected by a public officer in the performance of a public duty and signs placed by a public agency for the purpose of guiding persons to emergency centers or places, buildings, public parking areas, or locations of regional or historical significance.

it service signs, utility information signs, public restroom or telephone signs, trespassing signs, city established monument signs, legal notices erected by a public officer in the performance of a public duty and signs placed by a public agency for the purpose of guiding persons to emergency centers or places, buildings, public parking areas, or locations of regional or historical significance.

"Off-site advertising sign" shall mean any sign which advertises or informs about a business organization or event, goods, products, services or uses not available on the property upon which the sign is located. Signage for a business within a shopping center under multiple ownership shall not be considered an off-site advertising sign even though it is not located on the same property as the business being advertised. The term "off-site advertising sign" does not include community identification signs, off-site residential development directional signs or off-site temporary for sale or lease signs.

"Off-site residential development directional sign" shall mean a uniformly designed sign which advertises or informs the public about a residential development where five or more dwelling units are undergoing construction.

"Off-site temporary for sale or lease sign" shall mean any off-site sign used in lieu of a freestanding sign which advertises property for sale or lease.

"On-site temporary for sale or lease sign" shall mean any on-site sign used in lieu of a freestanding sign, which advertises property for sale or lease.

"Open house sign" shall mean a portable sign used in connection with the sale of individual residential real properties.

"Pedestrian/shingle sign" shall mean a suspended sign used to identify and indicate pertinent facts concerning a business or professional services conducted on the premises.

"Pennant" shall mean any tapering flag used for signaling or identification.

"Permitting body" shall mean the person or body with the authority to review and approve permits for signs. This may include the city planner, the planning commission, or the city council.

"Pole sign" shall mean a freestanding sign supported by one or more pillars, poles or posts that is more than eight feet in height but less than twenty feet in height with

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sign copy or content no lower than eight feet, nor higher than eighteen feet in height.

"Political sign" shall mean a sign designed for the purpose of advertising support of or opposition to a candidate or proposition for a public election.

"Projecting building sign" shall mean a wall sign which projects from and is supported by a wall or roof of a building, structure or sign structure and projects beyond the eaves of a building or overhang.

"Real estate sign" means a sign advertising real property for sale, rent, or lease, including an "open house" sign.

"Roof sign" shall mean any sign erected and constructed wholly on or over the roof of a building, supported by the roof structure, and extending vertically above the roof.

"Service station display structure" shall mean an on-site identification business sign that serves to identify the name and logo of the service station located on the site.

"Service station price sign" shall mean a business sign indicating gasoline prices and available services.

"Shopping center" shall mean any complex of separate businesses so designated by the planning commission as a shopping center.

"Sign" shall mean every sign, billboard, freestanding sign, portable freestanding sign, wall sign, roof sign, illuminated sign, projecting sign, temporary sign and street clock, and includes any announcement, declaration, demonstration, display, illustration or insignia used to advertise or promote any interest when the same is placed so that it is clearly visible to the general public from an out-of-doors position.

"Sign structure" shall mean the supports, uprights, braces and framework of a sign.

"Streamer" shall mean a long, narrow banner, flag, or pennant.

"Street address sign" shall mean the numerals of a street address for a given use or uses in a given residential or commercial building or buildings.

"Street tree" shall mean any tree planted within a city, county, or state right-of-way or on public property.

"Temporary sign" shall mean any sign, banner, pennant, valance, feather flag, campaign sign or advertising display constructed of cloth, canvas, light fabric, plastic, cardboard, wallboard or other light materials, with or without frames, intended to be displayed for a period of not more than one hundred days in a calendar year.

"Tenant directory sign" shall mean a tenant directory or other exclusively informational listing of tenant names attached to the exterior wall at the entrances of a building and used for the purpose of displaying the names and unit identifications of occupants engaged in professions or businesses on the premises.

"Tenant frontage" shall mean the linear length of a building frontage of suites occupied by a tenant.

"Vehicular sign" shall mean any sign permanently affixed to an operable or inoperable vehicle currently registered as a motor vehicle, which is used in the normal course of business.

"Wall sign" shall mean any sign attached to, painted on or erected against the wall, roof or marquee of a building or structure, and not extending more than six inches beyond the point of attachment.

"Window sign" shall mean a sign maintained in or painted in or painted upon a window, which shall be classified as a wall sign. (Ord. 552 (Att. A), 2025)

This chapter shall apply to all property and land within the jurisdiction of the city. It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation that owns, occupies, or controls property in the city to construct, maintain, display or alter or cause to be constructed, maintained, displayed or altered a sign within the city except in conformance with this chapter. (Ord. 552 (Att. A), 2025)

A. Signs Must Comply With This Code. In all zones, only such signs that are specifically permitted or exempted in this chapter may be placed, erected, maintained, displayed or used, and the placement, erection, maintenance, display or use of signs shall be subject to all restrictions, limitations and regulations contained in this chapter. The placement, erection, maintenance, display or use of all other signs is prohibited.

B. Enforcement Authority. The city planner is authorized and directed to enforce and administer the provisions of this chapter.

C. Permit Requirement. Unless expressly exempted by a provision of this chapter, or by other applicable law, signs within the regulatory scope of this chapter may be displayed only pursuant to a permit issued by the city pursuant to this chapter and any applicable permits required by the building code.

D. Message Neutrality. It is the city’s policy to regulate signs in a way that does not favor commercial speech over noncommercial speech and is content neutral as to noncommercial messages which are within the protections of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution.

E. Regulatory Interpretations. All regulatory interpretations of this chapter are to be exercised in light of the city’s message neutrality policy. Where a particular type of sign is proposed in a permit application, and the type is neither expressly allowed nor prohibited by this chapter, or whenever a sign does not qualify as a "structure" as defined in the building code, then the city shall approve, conditionally approve or disapprove, or refer the sign to the planning commission, based on the most similar sign type that is expressly regulated by this chapter.

F. Substitution of Messages. Subject to the property owner’s consent, a noncommercial message of any type may be substituted for any commercial message or any noncommercial message; provided, that the sign is otherwise legal without consideration of message content. Such substitution of message may be made without any additional approval or permitting. This provision prevails over any more specific provision to the contrary within this chapter. This provision does not create a right to increase the total amount of signage on a parcel, lot or land use; does not affect the requirement that a sign structure or mounting device be properly permitted; does not allow a change in the physical structure of a sign or its mounting device; and does not allow the substitution of an off-site commercial message in place of an on-site commercial message.

is provision does not create a right to increase the total amount of signage on a parcel, lot or land use; does not affect the requirement that a sign structure or mounting device be properly permitted; does not allow a change in the physical structure of a sign or its mounting device; and does not allow the substitution of an off-site commercial message in place of an on-site commercial message.

G. Severance. If any section, sentence, clause, phrase, word, portion or provision of this chapter is held invalid, or unconstitutional, or unenforceable, by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any other section, sentence, clause, phrase, word, portion, or provision of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid portion. In adopting this chapter, the city council affirmatively declares that it would have approved and adopted the chapter even without any portion which may be held invalid or unenforceable. (Ord. 552 (Att. A), 2025)