Article 1 — General Provisions

(a)

It is the stated purpose of the city council to:

(1)

Promote and protect the health, safety and general welfare of the public by regulating the size, height, quantity, design, quality of materials, construction, location, illumination and maintenance of signs and sign structures within the city;

(2)

Promote the aesthetics, ambience, and character of its residential neighborhoods by eliminating visual clutter;

(3)

Create a more attractive and healthy economic business climate by recognizing signs as an effective means of communication, while at the same time eliminating visual clutter and preserving and enhancing the beauty of the city; and

(4)

Increase traffic safety by minimizing the distracting effect of signs on drivers through regulation of the size, type, quantity and location of signs.

(b)

The establishment of a permit system for signs and the strict enforcement of its provisions and the abatement of illegal nonconforming signs will promote the purposes of this chapter.

(Ord. 565 § 2 (Exh. A) (part), 2007)

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1)

"A-board sign" means a portable A-frame sign (see "portable sign").

(2)

"Aggregate sign area" or "total sign allowance" means the total area of signs permitted on a single premises, building, site or parcel.

(3)

"Apartment and rooming house sign" means a sign which identifies the apartment complex or rooming house and its services.

(4)

"Banner sign" means a sign made of flexible materials and suspended from one edge or attached at the corners. A banner sign does not include a pennant or flag.

(5)

"Business sign" means an on-site sign which identifies the business entity located on the premises and having principal business frontage or advertises or informs about the business or products or services sold or rendered on the premises.

(6)

"Commercial message" means a message related to economic interests.

(7)

"Commercial sign" means a sign related to economic interests.

(8)

"Commercially zoned district" means business and commercial districts as further defined in Chapter 6-9 of the Lafayette Municipal Code.

(9)

"Construction sign" means an on-site sign identifying a construction project and the hours of construction and/or the architect, engineer, lender or contractor directly connected with construction which is in progress.

(10)

"Directory sign" means a pedestrian oriented on-site sign which identifies or lists the names and locations of all tenants at a site.

(11)

"Externally illuminated sign" means a sign that is illuminated by light reflecting on the sign from outside of the sign.

(12)

"Fence sign" means a sign placed on a fence.

(13)

"Flag" means a sign representing for example, but not limited to, any nation, association of nations, state, city, or other political, religious, charitable, educational, philanthropic, civic, professional, or like noncommercial organization and made of a flexible material and attached at one edge to a staff or pole or other support.

(14)

"Flashing sign" means an illuminated sign in which the artificial or reflected light is not intended to be maintained in a stationary or constant intensity.

(15)

"Freestanding sign" means a sign which is self-supporting in a fixed location and not attached to a building, fence or structure.

(16)

"Governmental sign" means a sign placed by a public utility or governmental agency for safety or information or to comply with a federal, state or local law.

(17)

"Hotel or motel sign" means a commercial sign that identifies the business of a hotel or motel.

(18)

"Illegal sign" means a sign placed without proper governmental approval or permits as required by this code at the time the sign was placed. "Illegal sign" also means a nonconforming sign which has been altered, enlarged or replaced without conformance with the provisions of this chapter.

(19)

"Inflated sign" means a sign that is filled with three cubic feet or more of air or gas and is tethered to a building or to an object on the property.

(20)

"Information, safety, directional sign" means a sign giving information such as hours of operation, telephone number, credit cards, memberships, location of toilets, delivery, or freights, parking information or directional words or signals such as "enter" designed to be viewed on-site by pedestrians and/or motorists.

(21)

"Institution sign" means a sign which identifies a public or quasi-public use, such as a library, public park, school, religious institution or fire station.

(22)

"Internally illuminated" means a sign whose source of illumination is within the sign structure.

(23)

"Mailbox or address identification sign" means a sign which identifies a house or apartment by number and is less than 60 square inches in area unless legally required to be larger as provided in Section 6-2521(d).

(24)

"Master identification sign" means a sign which identifies a center, complex or group of businesses under a single site name.

(25)

"Master sign plan" means a coordinated sign plan which includes details of all signs visible from a public open space which are or will be placed on a site.

(26)

"Mixed use building or mixed use complex" means a building or complex containing a combination of office space and retail or other commercial use.

(27)

"Mobile sign" means a sign attached to, leaning against or suspended from a vehicle which is not an integrated part of the vehicle other than a bumper sticker. A mobile sign also includes a sign mounted on any type of device movable or capable of being moved by a vehicle.

(28)

"Modify" means to change the copy, color, size, shape, illumination, position, location, construction or supporting structure of the sign.

(29)

"Monument sign" means a freestanding sign which rests on a solid base.

(30)

"Moving sign" means a sign which has an actual or apparent moving, revolving or rotating part actuated by electrical, mechanical or other device or by wind current. The term "moving sign" does not include a time or temperature recording device, nor a sign on a motor vehicle.

(31)

"Mural" means a one-of-kind image that is not an integral part of the architecture or color scheme of the structure that is painted or affixed directly to a wall, roof, or fence on any lot.

(32)

"Neighborhood identification sign" means a sign identifying a neighborhood area.

(33)

"Noncommercial sign" means a sign not related to economic interests.

(34)

"Noncommercial message" means a message which is not related to economic interests.

(35)

"Nonconforming sign" means a sign which does not comply with this chapter. A legal nonconforming sign was lawful when placed.

(36)

"Obsolete sign" means a sign which advertises a service, product, activity, event or land use after the service, product, activity, event or use has been suspended, concluded, terminated or abandoned or a temporary sign that has been in place for more than 90 days.

(37)

"Office" means a business space that has its entrance from an interior hallway.

(38)

"Office building" means a building consisting primarily of offices.

(39)

"Office use sign" is a sign identifying a specific office use.

(40)

"Off-site sign" means a commercial sign which advertises or informs about a business, goods, services or facilities not sold or located on the property or contiguous properties under the same ownership and use on which the sign is located.

(41)

"Open house sign" is a sign advertising property for sale and open for inspection.

(42)

"Painted sign" is a sign painted directly on a wall, fence or awning.

(43)

"Parking regulation sign" is a sign which defines the type of allowed parking, specifies a time limit for parking or otherwise defines parking stalls.

(44)

"Pennant" means a flag or banner that is suspended from two corners and which tapers to a point or swallowtail.

(45)

"Permanent commercial sign" is a commercial sign designed and intended to be used for a period of 90 days or more.

(46)

"Permanent noncommercial sign" means a noncommercial sign intended to be used and in place for a period of 90 days or more. Permanent noncommercial signs include, but are not limited to, signs indicating the location of a community service organization, public facility, or similar nonprofit institution and memorial plaques, historical tablets or other commemorative signs for a person, place or event.

(47)

To "place" and any of its variants includes erecting, constructing, posting, painting, printing, tacking, nailing, gluing, sticking, carving or otherwise fastening, affixing or making visible a sign. It does not include any of the foregoing activities when performed incident to the customary maintenance of a sign or to a change in the message on a reader board.

(48)

"Portable sign" means a sign which is designed to be moved and is not attached to the ground, building, structure or other thing.

(49)

"Principal business frontage" means the horizontal distance of a building or portion of the building occupied by one tenant and is measured along each wall having a customer entrance and facing a public open space or along each wall which includes a glass enclosed showroom facing the street.

(50)

"Projecting sign" means a sign other than a wall sign, which is suspended or supported by a building wall and which projects outward from the building, wall or overhang.

(51)

"Reader board" means a permanent structure upon which is displayed advertising material or copy of a temporary or changeable nature, such as a bulletin board or theater marquee.

(52)

"Realty sign" means a temporary commercial sign designed and intended to be used for less than 90 days, which pertains to the sale, lease or rental of an existing lot, building or other facility.

(53)

"Residentially zoned district" means single-family residential districts and multifamily residential districts as further defined in Chapters 6-7 and 6-8 of the Lafayette Municipal Code.

(54)

"Roof sign" means a sign placed on a roof or above an overhang, canopy or fascia.

(55)

"Service club shield" means a sign not exceeding two square feet in area which identifies a particular service club and is placed on a service club sign.

(56)

"Service club sign" means an off-site sign, usually freestanding, which is used to display service club shields.

(57)

"Shingle sign" means a wooden sign projecting outward from the building to which it is attached.

(58)

"Sign" means a medium for visual communication, including its structure and component parts, placed upon the ground, a bush, a tree, a rock, a wall, a post, a fence, a building or structure, which is used or intended to be used to convey a message or to identify, attract attention to, or advertise a product, place, activity, business, event, good, service or land use. A functional architectural feature of a building is not normally a sign. A sign under this chapter is one which is visible from any public place or is located on private property and exposed to the public or intended to be seen from a public open space or from a premises other than that on which the sign is placed.

(59)

"Subdivision sign" means a sign which identifies a real estate subdivision development at which residential housing is offered for sale or for lease, or one which identifies a person or firm engaged in the promotion, design, construction or alteration of a real estate subdivision development and is removed upon the sale of the last lot or home.

(60)

"Temporary commercial sign" means a commercial sign designed and intended to be used to identify a new business for a period of less than 90 days while the new business is going through the process of applying for and installing its business sign and which complies with Section 6-2563.

(61)

"Temporary noncommercial sign" means a noncommercial sign intended to be used and in place for a period of less than 90 days. Temporary noncommercial signs include, but are not limited to, a sign announcing a community-oriented event or charitable cause, and a sign designed for the purpose of advertising support of, or opposition to, a political party, candidate, proposition or cause.

(62)

"Under-marquee sign" means a sign below a canopy, overhang or covered walkway which projects perpendicular to the building.

(63)

"Use" means a purpose or activity for which the land or building is designed, arranged or intended, or for which it is occupied or maintained to function as a separate unit.

(64)

"Wall sign" means a sign attached parallel to and flat against an exterior wall. It does not include a sign painted directly on a wall.

(65)

"Window sign" means a sign on the surface of a window or visible through the window from outside.

(Ord. 565 § 2 (Exh. A) (part), 2007; Ord. No. 687, § 2(Exh. A), 10-23-2023)

(a)

In general, a person may erect a wall sign on their principal business frontage provided that it is not illuminated, does not exceed 20 square feet in size or eight inches in thickness, and does not use iridescent or fluorescent colors, without a sign permit. (See Section 6-2521 for a description of signs which are exempt from the permit requirement.)

(b)

In general, a person desiring to erect an externally illuminated wall sign which does not exceed 20 square feet in size or eight inches in thickness, or use fluorescent or iridescent colors, may apply directly to the planning services manager for a permit and is not subject to design review or public hearing; carved wooden signs are preferred. (See Section 6-2522 for specific description of signs subject to planning

services manager review, including certain subdivision, apartment and community event signs, and signs conforming to the master sign plan.)

(c)

All other signs which are neither exempt from permit requirements (see Section 6-2521), nor prohibited entirely (see Section 6-2519) are subject to design review commission approval and the public hearing process. (See Section 6-2523 et seq.)

(d)

A person may apply to the design review commission for a variance with respect to regulations relating to height, area, location or number of signs. (See Section 6-2527.)

(Ord. 565 § 2 (Exh. A) (part), 2007)

(a)

This chapter applies to all signs in the city except as provided in subsection (b) of this section.

(b)

This chapter applies to each local agency performing governmental or proprietary functions and having limited boundaries to the extent that territory within the jurisdiction of the local agency is within the boundaries of the city. "Local agency" does not include the state of California, Contra Costa County, or the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District except as authorized by statute, including Public Utilities Code Section 28959.

(c)

The regulations in this chapter are zoning ordinances as that term is used in Government Code Section 53091. To the extent that a local agency is subject to the zoning ordinances of the city by the virtue of Government Code Sections 53091 through 53095 inclusive, the regulations set forth in this chapter apply.

(Ord. 565 § 2 (Exh. A) (part), 2007)

In each instance and under the same conditions in which this chapter permits any sign, any noncommercial message may be substituted in lieu of other content.

(Ord. 565 § 2 (Exh. A) (part), 2007)

Unless specifically allowed by this chapter, the general requirements, restrictions and prohibitions of this chapter shall apply to all signs.

(Ord. 565 § 2 (Exh. A) (part), 2007)