Contra Costa County Municipal Code § 88-6.202 Title

This chapter is known and may be cited as the Sign Ordinance of Contra Costa County.

(Ord. No. 2022-03, § II, 5-24-22.)

The purpose of this chapter is to regulate the construction, placement, display, and maintenance of signs in the unincorporated area of the County. Article 88-6.6 regulates signs placed or displayed on private property, or on land or facilities owned by public entities other than the County if the County exercises land use regulatory power over these lands or facilities. Article 88-6.8 regulates signs placed or displayed within a public right-of-way.

(Ord. No. 2022-03, § II, 5-24-22.)

It is the County's policy and intent to regulate signs in a manner that is content-neutral and consistent with the United States and California Constitutions.

(Ord. No. 2022-03, § II, 5-24-22.)

This chapter applies only to signs that are first constructed, placed, or displayed after the date this chapter takes effect. This section does not legalize signs that were originally constructed, placed, or displayed without full compliance with all then-applicable laws.

(Ord. No. 2022-03, § II, 5-24-22.)

The responsibility for compliance with this chapter rests jointly and severally upon the sign owner, sign sponsor, all parties holding the present right of possession and control of the property where the sign is located, and the legal owner of the lot, even if the sign was placed, constructed, or displayed without the owner's consent or knowledge.

(Ord. No. 2022-03, § II, 5-24-22.)

For purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases have the following meanings:

(a) "A-board" means a portable sign capable of standing without support or attachment.

(b) "Animated sign" means a sign that displays visual images that change more often than one time in any 24-hour period, or images that move or appear to move, regardless of the method by which the visual change is effected. "Animated sign" does not include signs that merely display time, temperature, or other factual information that by its nature constantly changes.

(c) "Directional sign" means a sign directing persons to a place, structure, or activity.

(d) "Freestanding sign" means a sign that is independently supported in a fixed location and not attached in any way to a building or structure, but does not include a monument sign.

(e) "Frontage of a building" means a facade of a building where there is a public entrance and that faces either a public street, private road, or other public open place.

(f) "Frontage of a lot" means a property line that is along the right-of-way of a public street or private road.

(g) "Mobile sign" means a sign mounted on any type of device that is movable or capable of being moved by a vehicle.

(h) "Monument sign" means a sign constructed upon a solid base or pedestal and not attached in any way to a building or structure.

(i) "Moving sign" means a sign that has actual or apparent moving, revolving, or rotating parts actuated by an electrical, mechanical, or other device or by wind current.

(j) "Nonconforming sign" means a sign that was lawful before this chapter became effective, but that thereafter violates this chapter.

(k) "Projecting sign" means a sign, other than a wall sign, that is suspended or supported by a building or wall and that projects from the building or wall.

(l) "Right-of-way" has the meaning set forth in Section 82-4.260.

(m) "Shingle sign" means a sign that is suspended below a canopy, overhang, or covered walkway.

(n) "Sign" has the meaning set forth in Section 82-4.262.

(o) "Temporary sign" means a sign constructed to be maintained for a period of limited duration, and that is neither permanently installed in the ground nor permanently affixed to a building or structure permanently installed in the ground.

(p) "Wall sign" means a sign attached to, erected against, or painted upon a wall or a building or structure, the face of which is a single plane parallel to the plane of the wall.

(q) "Window sign" means a sign maintained or painted on a window, not including a placard placed on or attached to a window.

(Ord. No. 2022-03, § II, 5-24-22.)

(a) The area of a sign is computed by including the maximum display surface that is visible from the ground, and excluding the structure supporting the sign unless the structure is designed as an integral component of the display. The area of a sign with multiple display surfaces is the sum of the display surface areas.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, if two display surfaces on the same sign are parallel and facing opposite directions, and the distance between the two surfaces is not more than two feet, then only the area of one of the two display surfaces is included in the computation of the sign's area.

(Ord. No. 2022-03, § II, 5-24-22.)