§ 33-1391 ordinance, including overlay, area and neighborhood plans, historic sections,…

"Double-faced sign" means a freestanding, hanging or projecting sign where two copy faces of equal size are mounted back-to-back. The two faces shall be parallel to each other and not separated by more than 36 inches. One face only will be charged against the permitted sign area.

"Feather sign" means a type of freestanding temporary portable sign of flexible material that is plain or includes copy and/or graphics and is supported by a horizontal or vertical pole, including, but not limited to, feather, flutter, bow, and tear drop flag signs.

"Flashing sign" means any sign which contains or is illuminated by lights which are intermittently on and off, which change intensity or color, or which create the illusion of motion in any manner, including animated signs which manifest a physical movement or rotation in one or more planes or the optical illusion of action or motion. Time and temperature signs where all advertising is excluded are not included in this category.

"Freestanding sign" means a sign which is permanently supported on the ground by one or more uprights, braces, poles, or other similar structural components that is not attached to any building. This category includes both monument and pole-type signs.

Freeway-oriented sign. For the purposes of this regulation, a freeway-oriented sign means any structure, housing, device, figure, statuary, painting, display, message placard or other contrivance, including a wall sign or freestanding sign, which provides information in the nature of advertising and which has been designed and located adjacent to the right-of-way on Interstate 15 freeway or portions of Highway 78, with the intention that it be viewed and/or read primarily by motorists traveling on Interstate 15 or portions of Highway 78.

"Future tenant identification sign" means a temporary sign which identifies a future use of a site or a future tenant for a building.

"Glazing area sign" means temporary or permanent signs painted on, attached, glued or otherwise affixed to glass windows, doors, or other glass structures, and oriented to the exterior of the building and public view.

"Grand opening sign" means a temporary special event sign used by newly established businesses to inform the public of their location and service available to the community. A grand opening sign may only be installed within 60 days after the business initially opens, and shall not be displayed for more than 30 consecutive calendar days. "Grand opening" does not mean an annual or occasional promotion of retail sales by a business.

"Halo-lit letters" mean individual, dimensional letters or symbols with solid opaque faces which are indirectly illuminated by a light source contained within each letter or symbol, where the light is directed upon the wall or background surface behind the letters creating silhouettes of the letters or symbols against the reflected light.

"Height of sign" means the greatest vertical distance measured from the top of the sign, including decorative embellishments, to the finish grade at the point the sign supports intersect the ground.

"Historic sign" means a sign or advertising structure that possesses historic, cultural, architectural, or community interest or value associated with the development, heritage or history of the city.

"Historic site sign" means signage as necessary to identify a historic landmark or a local register property as designated by the City of Escondido.

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City of Escondido, CA

ESCONDIDO CODE

§ 33-1391

§ 33-1391

"Illegal sign" means any advertising display erected without first complying with all ordinances and regulations in effect at the time of its construction and erection or use, as well as, signs which have expired permits due to the lack of having had the required inspections per the Uniform Building Code and National Electric Code.

Illumination.

• (1) "External illumination" means the illumination of a sign by an external light source that is not a component part of the sign.

• (2) "Internal illumination" means the brightening of a sign by a light source that is a component part of the sign and enclosed within the advertising structure.

"Incidental sign" means a small sign, emblem or decal informing the public of facilities or services available on the premises (e.g., a credit card sign or sign indicating business hours, health rating or licensing).

"Inflatable display" means any three dimensional ambient air-filled object depicting a container, figure, product or product trade dress.

"Inoperative activity" means a business or activity that has ceased operation at any given location for a continuous period of at least 180 calendar days.

"Interior sign" means a sign inside any business that is not intended to be seen from outside the building in which the business is located.

"Legal" means authorized or permitted in accordance with procedures defined by ordinance or law.

"Logo" means a trademark or symbol used to identify a business.

"Menu sign" means a sign, located adjacent to a drive-through lane of a food service facility, which lists the products available and the prices, and is designed to be read by the occupants of a vehicle.

"Message center, electronic," means a sign which has a changeable message which may be changed by electronic processes or by remote control and which exposes its message for not less than eight seconds with the interval between messages not less than one second.

"Monument sign" means a low-profile freestanding sign.

"Moving sign" means a sign whose entirety or components rotate or move in any manner to attract attention.

"Multi-shingle (multi-panel) sign" means a freestanding sign composed, in whole or in part, of individual tenant panels without an attached background, typically hung from each other from a cross member supported by posts, and generally separated by a gap not greater than six inches.

"Nonconforming sign" means a sign that does not presently comply with the provisions of this article. A sign that was lawfully erected prior to the enactment of the ordinance codified herein, but now fails to meet any of the standards contained herein shall be considered a legal nonconforming sign.

"Pole sign" means a permanently mounted, freestanding sign which is supported above the ground by one or more uprights, braces, poles, or other similar structural components.

"Portable sign" means a sign which is not permanently attached to a structure or to the ground and is designed to be moved easily.

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City of Escondido, CA § 33-1391

ZONING

§ 33-1391

"Projecting sign" means any sign other than a wall or canopy sign which is attached to and hangs or projects from a structure or any portion of a building.

"Public right-of-way" means a strip of land acquired by reservation, dedication, forced dedication, prescription or condemnation and intended to be or is presently occupied by a road, sidewalk, railroad, electric transmission lines, oil or gas pipeline, water line, sanitary storm sewer, bikeway, pedestrian walkway or other public use.

Real estate kiosk sign. See Subdivision sign kiosk—Real estate kiosk sign.

"Real estate sign" means a temporary sign advertising the sale, rent, lease or open house of the property upon which it is located and the identification of the firm handling such sale, lease, rent or open house.

"Regional market group" means a defined group of related commercial uses where a marketing or advertising association has been established for the benefit of the regional market group members who are located in a single approved Escondido planned development of more than 40 acres with limited visibility from Interstate 15 freeway, and whose market area extends beyond the city limits throughout a larger regional area.

"Regional market sign" means a freeway-oriented sign for a regional market group or affiliated business organization consisting of members of the regional market group, which may include an electronic message center.

"Roof" means the external covering of a building or structure above or covering any exterior or interior vertical wall or other portion of the site.

"Roofline" means the top edge of the roof or top of the parapet, whichever forms the top line of the building silhouette.

"Roof sign" means a sign erected, constructed or placed upon or over a roof of a building, except a mansard roof or canopy which is below the roof of the primary structure which is wholly or partly supported by such buildings.

"Sandwich sign" means a type of portable sign of A-frame construction.

"Sign" means any mark or painted character on any card, cloth, paper, metal, wood, plastic, or any other material visible from outside a structure, mounted to the ground or any tree, wall, bush, rock, fence or structure, either privately or publicly owned. Sign shall also mean any graphic announcement, declaration, demonstration, display, illustration, statuary or insignia used to promote the interest of any person, product, activity or service when the same is placed outdoors in view of the general public.

"Special event sign" means a temporary sign which advertises special events and activities such as, but not limited to, grand openings, charitable events, promotional sales, and Christmas tree sales. Such signs are limited to the provisions listed in this article, section 33-1396(a).

"Statuary" means statues or sculptures or similar figures that depict products, features, items or logos of a business, excluding those items that are considered design features or complements of the overall site such as wagons, benches, equipment sold or rented on the premises, hand water pumps, troughs, and other like items.

"Subdivision sign kiosk—Real estate kiosk sign" means a city designated sign in the public rightof-way or on private property containing directional panels for residential developments.

"Super-graphic sign" means a wall sign displaying a large graphic image with or without text. The graphic image extends beyond the perimeter of the sign text.

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City of Escondido, CA

ESCONDIDO CODE

§ 33-1391

§ 33-1392

"Temporary sign" means any sign that is displayed for a limited period of time as defined in this article.

"Time and temperature sign" means an electronically or electrically controlled changeable copy sign which conveys only information such as the time, date, temperature or atmospheric conditions, where different alternating copy changes are shown on the same copy area. Each message remains displayed for a specific minimum period of time with a total blackout between message changes. The copy shall not travel or appear to travel in any direction. Time and temperature signs shall be included in the permitted wall or freestanding sign area and shall not include any advertising within the changeable copy area.

"Use" means the purpose for which a property, lot, building, sign or other structure is arranged, intended, designed, occupied or maintained as established by the authorized legislative body.

"Vehicle sight distance" means the area through which a driver has a clear view of oncoming vehicle and pedestrian traffic when waiting to proceed at a street corner or driveway. The sight distance at driveways should be at least 10 feet on each side of the driveway. At nonsignalized corners, the clear view area is typically established by measuring 25 feet along the street fronts from each curb return point and drawing a line across the two back points to form a triangular area. Generally, no sign in excess of three feet above the curb grade, or support pole larger than 12 inches in diameter may be installed in this clear view area unless approved by the engineering division.

"Vehicle sign" means a sign which is attached to or affixed in any fashion, painted on, or resting in or on any type of vehicle which is parked on or adjacent to any property, the principal purpose of which is to attract attention to a product sold or an activity or business located on such property as determined by the director.

"Wall sign" means a sign painted on, attached to, or erected against the wall of a building or structure with the exposed face of the sign parallel to the plane of such wall. A parapet, mansard, or canopy/marquee sign shall be considered a wall sign provided it is architecturally integrated with the building and does not project above the roof line.

Window sign. See Glazing area sign.

(Ord. No. 92-47, § 1, 11-18-92; Ord. No. 94-33, § 1, 11-2-94; Ord. No. 95-18, § 2, 9-13-95; Ord. No. 96-27, § 1, 8-28-96; Ord. No. 98-25, § 1, 12-9-98; Ord. No. 99-27R, §§ 5, 6, 12-1-99; Ord. No. 2000-23, § 8, 9-13-00; Ord. No. 2008-22, § 7, 9-10-08; Ord. No. 2009-02, § 4, 2-25-09; Ord. No. 2011-19R, § 5, 1-11-12; Ord. No. 2012-08, § 4, 5-23-12; Ord. No. 2018-22, § 1, 12-5-18; Ord. No. 2020-14 § 10, 8-12-20; Ord. No. 2023-07, § 3, 3-8-23)