Fontana Municipal Code Art. IV Noncommercial Signs

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 1868, § 8(Att. 1), adopted May 25, 2021, repealed the former Art. IV, §§ 3-81—3-94, 3-111—3-116, 3-131—3-139, and 3-161—3-177, and enacted a new Art. IV as set out herein. The former Art. IV pertained to signs and derived from Ord. No. 1240, §§ 3—6, adopted March 3, 1998; Ord. No. 1314, § 4, adopted Jan. 18, 2000; Ord. No. 1324, § 2, adopted July 18, 2000; Ord. No. 1329, § 7, adopted Aug. 1, 2000; Ord. No. 1337, § 5, adopted Dec. 5, 2000; Ord. No. 1370, § 5(Exh. A), adopted March 5, 2002; Ord. No. 1382, § 2, adopted Aug. 6, 2002; Ord. No. 1425, § 2, adopted Aug. 6, 2003; Ord. No. 1514, § 2, adopted July 25, 2006; Ord. No. 1597, § 2, adopted May 12, 2009; Ord. No. 1652, § 1(Exh. D), adopted Jan. 10, 2012; Ord. No. 1657, §§ 2—4, adopted April 10, 2012; Ord. No. 1658, §§ 2—4, adopted April 10, 2012; Ord. No. 1720, §§ 1—3, adopted Feb. 10, 2015; Ord. No. 1721, § 1, adopted Feb. 10, 2015; Ord. No. 1780, § 4, adopted Sept. 25, 2018.

Cross reference— Buildings and building regulations, ch. 5; zoning, ch. 30.

(a) Development standards.

(1) Temporary noncommercial signs shall conform to all of the following standards:

a. Maximum size of sign shall not exceed 36 square feet and the top of the sign shall not be placed higher than eight feet above grade. For sign measurement rules, see chapter 30 (development code) article XII, section 30-735. For definitions, see chapter 30, article XII, section 30-783.

b. Temporary noncommercial signs shall not be posted for more than 30 days prior to and ten days after such event, except that political signs shall be exempt from the 30-day requirement. Such political signs, however, must be maintained or shall be considered abandoned pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(i).

c. Such signs shall not be permitted to be stuck, glued, painted, pasted, posted, nailed, stapled, or otherwise affixed to any public property, publicly owned sign, public appurtenance, utility pole, fire hydrant, tree, boulder, or other natural feature, and may not be placed within the public right-of-way.

d. Such signs shall not obscure traffic signs and signals nor block motorists' line of sight.

e. It shall be unlawful to attach, connect, or otherwise affix any sign to another permanent or temporary sign, or direct, permit or allow such action, without the permission of the owner of the permanent or temporary sign.

f. Property owner permission shall be obtained for erection of temporary noncommercial signs, provided that written evidence of such permission need not be submitted to the city prior to erection of the signs.

g. Such signs shall contain information about the individual or organization which owns or has erected the sign, along with the address or phone number of such entity.

h. Such signs shall not be illuminated.

i. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, all temporary noncommercial signs shall be maintained in good, clean, and safe condition. Signs that are faded, torn, punctured, vandalized, not properly affixed, or generally damaged in any way, and at any time during their display, shall be replaced or shall be considered abandoned.

(b) Violation. Except as otherwise provided herein, upon a determination of any violation of the provisions of this subsection regulating temporary noncommercial signs, the empowered officer of the city shall send notification in writing to the owner of such sign, if such owner is known, stating that the sign has been determined to be illegally erected and requiring its removal within ten days of the date of such written notice. Upon determination that a violation exists with respect to any temporary noncommercial sign, if the sign is not removed within the specified time period, the empowered officer of the city may cause the sign to be removed, and shall notify the sign owner in writing of any sign removal, stating the location where the sign is being held and that it will be destroyed if not claimed by the owner within the ten-day period. If the sign is not claimed by the owner within the given time frame, the empowered officer of the city may destroy or otherwise dispose of such sign. The owner of the sign shall reimburse the city for the actual costs of notifying the sign owner and of removing, storing, and destroying or otherwise disposing of the sign.

(c) Removal of signs. No person shall remove, destroy, relocate, or otherwise disturb any lawfully-erected temporary noncommercial sign, or direct, permit, or allow such removal, destruction, relocation, or disturbance without the permission of the party who erected the sign. It shall be presumed that the owner of the temporary noncommercial sign or representative is the party who erected the sign. Where applicable, it shall further be presumed that the committee who has registered with the secretary of state to support a position on a ballot proposition is the party who erected the sign taking the position on the ballot measure. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the owner of a piece of property, or his or her authorized representative, from removing a sign from his or her property when the sign has been erected without his or her consent; and provided, further, nothing in this subsection shall prevent the empowered officer of the city or other authorized representative of the city from taking action to abate sign violations.

(d) Appeal procedures.

(1) Any person aggrieved by any action of the city may appeal such action, in writing, to the city manager or a designee within five days of any written notification by the city of the impending removal of a sign or summary removal. The appeal shall be submitted to the city clerk and shall state the reasons for the requested appeal, the date the notice of violation was received, and the location of the alleged violation.

(2) Upon receipt of an appeal, the city clerk shall schedule the matter for hearing before the city manager or designee at the next date and time the city manager or designee is available. The city clerk shall provide the appellant with written notice concerning the hearing date and time. The city manager or designee shall determine the appeal at a hearing held on the appointed date and time. The decision of the city manager or designee on the matter shall be final.

In areas qualifying as traditional public forums, such as streets, parks, and sidewalks, persons may display noncommercial message signs thereon, provided that the sign displayed on public property conforms to all the following:

(1) Personally attended. The signs must be personally held by a person or personally attended by one or more persons. "Personally attended" means that a person is physically present within 15 feet of the sign at all times.

(2) Size.

a. The maximum aggregate size of all signs held by a single person is 12 square feet.

b. The maximum size of any one sign which is personally attended by two or more persons is 50 square feet.

(3) Balloons. The displayed signs shall not be inflatable or air activated.

(4) Pedestrian and vehicle clearance. In order to serve the city's interests in traffic flow and safety, persons displaying signs under this division may not stand in any vehicular traffic lane when a roadway is open for use by vehicles, and persons displaying signs on public sidewalks must give clearance for pedestrians to pass by.

The following provisions shall apply to noncommercial wall murals:

(1) Permitted. Noncommercial murals may be permitted on publicly owned property, subject to the following conditions:

a. There shall be no more than one noncommercial mural per parcel.

b. The noncommercial mural shall not be lit.

c. Noncommercial murals shall be installed directly on a building wall.

d. There shall be no projection of the noncommercial mural in any direction from the surface of the structure.

e. The property owner shall give his or her written consent to erect and further, shall agree to properly maintain and remove the noncommercial mural in accordance with conditions established by the planning commission.

(2) Design review sign. Noncommercial murals shall apply for design review sign approval. The design review sign application shall be reviewed and approved by the planning commission subject to the requirements of chapter 30, article XII, division no. 4 (design review sign requirements). Consideration shall be given to the following matters:

a. Conceptual compatibility of the design with the immediate environment of the site.

b. Appropriateness of the design and size to the function of the site.

c. Compatibility of the design and location within a unified design theme.

d. Appropriateness of the design as a public work of art. The design may portray, but not be limited to, a cultural, historical, or scenic subject.

(3) Time period. The planning commission shall establish a maximum time period for the existence of a noncommercial mural.

(4) Conditions. The planning commission may establish such further conditions as it deems appropriate upon approval of an application for a noncommercial mural to safeguard the general purpose of this article.

(5) Application. All applications for murals as specified shall be made on a scale rendering and/or scale model.