Article V — Applications for Signs

• A. Signs are one of the most prominent visual elements of the street. If well designed, signs can add interest and variety to a building's façade and the overall street scene. A well-designed sign can say a lot about a business. A poorly designed sign, however, can detract from even the most attractive storefront, cluttering the façade and disturbing views.

• B. These guidelines address sign design, working in concert with the city's sign ordinance and suggesting design techniques to produce signs that successfully promote businesses while tastefully contributing to Moreno Valley's image.

  1. Signs shall be visible and legible, but not large and flashy.

  2. Messages should be direct and simple, using graphic symbols or simple verbal messages.

  3. Sign materials and design should harmonize with the building's architecture, incorporating similar details and colors.

  4. The overall size and shape of a sign should not detract from its message. Letters should not occupy more than 75% of the permitted sign face area for a tenant's wall sign.

  5. Master sign programs are required for large retail, office and industrial centers, distributing sign area among the individual store fronts in proportion to the frontage length of each and specifying letter styles, sign colors, wall sign locations, ground sign locations, and types and sizes of other permitted signs.

  6. Monument signs should be landscaped to help integrate the sign into the site. Landscaping should build up to the sign, becoming an integral part and adding emphasis to the sign while making it appear more natural.

  7. One-sided monument signs should incorporate earth berms behind them, helping to blend the sign into the landscape.

  8. Monument sign landscaping should encircle the sign, softening the sign's edges on all sides.

  9. Monument signs should be unique and should avoid an overall rectangular shape incorporating architectural elements and themes of buildings being identified.

  10. Monument signs shall be located away from telephone poles, utility boxes, transformers, streetlights or any other obstacle that might impair their visibility.

  11. Night lighting of signs shall not be obtrusive, avoiding spilling light or glare onto adjacent properties or right-of-way. Signs may be illuminated in a number of ways, with reverse channel illumination having the least disruptive impact.

  12. When possible, monument signs shall incorporate planters or climbing vines in their design.

  13. Ground-mounted lighting fixtures for indirect sign illumination shall be fully concealed by berming and landscaping, minimizing light spillover and enhancing sign aesthetics.

  14. Wall signs should be composed of either individual channel letters or reverse channel letters. No raceways shall be exposed. Can signs are discouraged.

  15. Imaginative designs departing from the traditional methods and placements are encouraged, but they shall not endanger public health, safety or general welfare.

16. Temporary signs shall not be located in public rights-of-way, in streetside landscape areas or in required parking spaces and shall, in all ways, comply with appropriate provisions of the city's sign ordinance.

17. Modified monument signs shall display a maximum of six tenant panels.

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Monument Sign Built Into Slope

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Signs Deviating from a Strictly Rectangular Shape

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Channel Letters

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Reverse Channel Letters

(Ord. 359 (Attach. 2), 1992)