Redwood City Municipal Code § 3.66 Permit Suspension or Revocation

Unless otherwise provided in this Article, no person shall install, erect, display, alter, move or replace any nonexempt sign without first obtaining a sign permit issued by the City in accordance with this Division. In processing a sign permit application, the City shall not evaluate the graphic design or message of the sign face; this provision does not prevent the City from denying a permit for a billboard or for a sign displaying off-site commercial messages. A permit is required whenever there is a change of use or a change of establishment at the property on which the sign is placed, which also involves a change to the signage or copy on a permanent sign. Signage rights and duties apply to specific uses at specific locations and cannot be transferred from one location to another.

(Ord. No. 2309, § 2, 5-7-07)

Written notices required within this Article shall be deemed given on the earliest of the following: when actually delivered, one day after deposit with an overnight delivery service or three (3) days after mailing (first class postage). Notices are deemed effective when sent to the last known address of the addressee.

(Ord. No. 2309, § 2, 5-7-07)

Any person seeking a permit for a sign, for which a permit is required under this Article, shall submit to the Director a written application for such sign permit or other sign-related decision. The Director shall prepare a sign permit application form and provide it to any person on request. The same form may be used for both the application and the decision thereon. A single form may be used for multiple signs on the same site. A sign permit application is complete only when it is accompanied by the appropriate application fee, in an amount set by resolution of the City Council, and provides the following information, as applicable:

A. Name, address and telephone number of the applicant and, if applicable, the name, address and telephone number and license number, if any, of the sign contractor;

B. Address, zoning district, and use of the property where the sign is proposed to be displayed;

C. Accurate and scaled site plan showing the location of property lines, buildings, parking areas, driveways, landscaped areas, utility poles and wires, and existing and proposed signs on the site;

D. Accurate and scaled building elevation showing existing and proposed building signs (exempt signs need not be shown);

E. Accurate and scaled plans, details and samples showing the location, dimensions, materials and illumination of each proposed sign;

F. Existing and proposed sign area of each individual sign and the combined area of all signs (including those already existing or previously permitted) in relation to the maximum allowed sign area;

G. The land owner's written consent to the proposed sign, which may be shown by signature on the application;

H. A statement as to whether the sign is intended to be used for commercial messages and, if so, whether the message(s) will qualify as "onsite" or offsite" or both, under the definitions of this Article;

I. A statement as to whether the sign will be used for general advertising or advertising for hire, under the definitions of this Article;

J. A statement or graphical description as to whether the sign, or any part of it, is to be used for changeable or changing copy or moving images;

K. A statement or graphical description as to whether the proposed sign, or any part of it, is proposed to utilize any of the following physical methods of message presentation: sound or odor; smoke or fumes or steam; rotating or moving elements; activation by wind or forced air; neon or other fluorescing gases; flashing or strobe lighting; liquid crystal displays, digital images, LED images or other video-like methods; use of live animals or living persons as part of the display;

L. A statement as to whether the property or parcel on which the sign is proposed to be erected or displayed, or any currently existing sign thereon, is the subject of any outstanding notice of zoning violation or notice to correct;

M. Photographs of the existing property, parcel and/or building on which the sign is proposed to be erected or displayed, showing the location(s) of the existing and proposed sign(s).

(Ord. No. 2309, § 2, 5-7-07)

The issuance or granting of a sign permit shall not be construed to be a permit for, or an approval of, any violation of any of the provisions of this Article or of any other provision of this Code. Permits presuming to give authority to violate or cancel the provisions of this Article or other provisions of this Code shall not be valid. The issuance of a sign permit based on plans, specifications and other data shall not prevent the Director from thereafter requiring the correction of errors in said plans, specifications and other data, or from preventing building operations being carried on thereunder when in violation of this Article or of any other provision of this Code.

(Ord. No. 2309, § 2, 5-7-07)

Every sign permit issued by the Director under the provisions of this Article shall expire by limitation and become null and void if the work authorized by such permit is not commenced within one year from the date of such permit, or if the work authorized by such permit is suspended or abandoned at any time after the work is commenced for a period of one year. Before such work can be recommenced, a new permit shall be first obtained to do so and the fee therefor shall be one-half the amount required for a new permit for such work, provided no changes have been made or will be made in the original plans and specifications for such work and provided further that such suspension or abandonment has not exceeded one year. In order to renew action on a permit after expiration, the permittee shall pay a new full permit fee.

Any permittee holding an unexpired permit may apply for an extension of the time within which work may commence under that permit when the permittee is unable to commence work within the time required by this Section for reasons beyond the control of the permittee. The Director may extend the time for action by the permittee for a period not exceeding one year on written request by the permittee showing that circumstances beyond the control of the permittee have prevented action from being taken. No permit shall be extended more than once.

(Ord. No. 2309, § 2, 5-7-07)

The Director may, in writing, suspend or revoke a sign permit issued under the provisions of this Article whenever the sign permit is issued in error or on the basis of incorrect information supplied, or in violation of any ordinance or regulation or any of the provisions of this Code. Revocations under this Section shall be heard and appealed in the same manner as any other sign-related decision.

Even after construction of a sign, a permit which authorized the sign may be revoked as issued in error if the permit application contained material errors of fact or presented a false or misleading impression of the state and nature of the site, the sign and/or the proposed sign structure.

(Ord. No. 2309, § 2, 5-7-07)