Chapter 8 Sign Regulations Part 1 General Provisions Page3 of 4

Chapter 8 Sign Regulations Part 1 Sign Regulations General Provisions Page3 of 4

Sign: Any display to public view of letters, devices, structures, fixtures, displays, emblems, pictures, placards, or any parts or combinations thereof designed to provide direction, draw attention to, or advertise any establishment, product, goods, place, activity, business, or service. See exemptions listed in Section 8.1.3.

Sign plan: A coordinated plan for developing signs for an individual building or a group of buildings.

Single Family Residential Occupant Sign: A sign used to identify the individual or individuals occupying a single-family residence.

Small Freestanding Business Sign: A freestanding business sign that is no greater than (12) square feet in area for each sign face.

Special Event Sign: A temporary sign used to advertise a special event associated with a religious institution, government facility, or other not-for-profit organization.

For special event sign and small freestanding business sign refer to portable sign definition for illustrations.

Street frontage: The distance along which a lot line adjoins a public street right-of-way between lot lines intersecting the same street. Corner lots have at least two (2) street frontages.

Structure: Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground, or attachment to something having a location on the ground, including walls or fences exceeding four (4) feet in height, buildings, and signs. In these regulations, reference to buildings includes structures and vice versa.

Subdivision Identification Sign: A sign used to identify a residential subdivision on site.

Temporary sign: A sign whose removal within a specified period of time is required by Chapter 8 of the Land Development Code and which complies with the appropriate regulations of that chapter.

Time or temperature sign: A sign or portion thereof on which the only copy that changes is an electronic or mechanical indication of time or temperature.

Window: The combined area of glazing within a wall opening.

Window sign: A sign that is placed inside a window, or applied or attached to windowpanes or glass, and which is visible from the exterior of the window. Signs that are permanently painted or otherwise permanently affixed to the window shall be considered window signs.

Illustration 8.1.11

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Figure 8.1.1

Copyright © 2004 Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) and Louisville Water Company All Right Reserved.

8.1.3 Signs Exempt From Regulation

The following signs shall be exempt from regulation under this Chapter 8:

Any traffic sign, public notice or warning required by a valid and applicable federal, state, or local law, regulation, or ordinance.
Holiday lights and decorations on residential lots with no commercial message; and retail store window displays of merchandise, freestanding three-dimensional promotional items (with or without proprietary words or symbols solely describing the merchandise and/or merchandise that is sold in the store), and/or display fixtures or backdrops not affixed to windowpanes or glass.
Traffic control signs on private property, such as Stop, Yield, and similar signs, and which contain no commercial message.
Signs within a ballpark, field or diamond which indicates sponsorship of the teams or activities that occur therein. These signs shall be oriented toward the field or diamond.
Directional signs that assist the public in locating community facilities or health care facilities, as approved by the Director of Works and the Planning Director based on a finding by the directors that the signs are necessary to promote public health and safety. Directional signs may be located in the right-of-way or on private property, with permission of the property owner or public agency having jurisdiction over the right-of-way. The size, design and illumination shall be subject to approval by the Works and Planning Directors.
Monumental commemorative sculpture and/or graphic art in any medium and including images depicting real or allegorical persons, non-commercial themes or symbols, historical scenes and events or idealized scenes, and inscribed dedications or quotations, permanently attached to and incorporated into the overall design of all or Part of one or more facades of a community center, church, school, library, museum, hospital, or similar public or private, not-for-profit, institutional or civic structures.
Signs placed by a public utility for the safety, welfare, or convenience of the public, including, but not limited to signs identifying high voltage, public telephone, or underground cables.
Non-illuminated names of buildings, dates of erection, monument statues, commemorative tablets and the like when carved into stone, concrete, metal, or any other permanent type of construction and made an integral Part of an allowed structure or made flush to the ground.
Non-illuminated signs used to identify a non-registered historic property and/or permanently preserved open space property (preserved meaning through the use of conservation easement or fee simple ownership) erected by a not-for-profit organization and/or government agency. No commercial messages shall be allowed on the sign. The sign shall be constructed from stone, metal or any other permanent type of construction and must be permanently anchored to the ground. The sign shall not exceed five (5) square feet in area and six (6) feet in height.
Signs used to identify local Landmark/National Register historic sites.
No trespassing signs not to exceed two (2) square feet in area.
Signs upon a vehicle, provided that any such vehicle with a sign face of over two square feet is not conspicuously parked so as to constitute a sign; nothing herein prevents such a vehicle from being used for bona fide delivery and other vehicular purposes.
Animating features such as public art or murals of a non-commercial nature, as approved by the Planning Director.
Address signs no greater then five (5) square feet in area. Address signs in excess of five (5) square feet in area shall be considered attached business signs and shall be counted toward the number and area of attached signage permitted on a building façade.
Signs required by law or a duly constituted governmental body.

8.1.4 Nonconforming Signs

Any sign legally in existence on the effective date of any zoning regulation, which does not permit such signs may continue in existence as a matter of right. A nonconforming sign may be maintained and repaired on the same property so long as the area, height, placement of movable parts, and luminosity are not altered to make the sign less in conformance with this regulation. Development sites with a non-conforming sign(s) may not install any additional freestanding signs if an existing freestanding sign is more than twenty (20%) percent nonconforming or any additional attached signs if an existing attached sign is more than twenty (20%) percent nonconforming even if one or more would otherwise be allowed by other provisions of this chapter. Nonconforming in this instance deals with area and height dimensions only. Non-conforming freestanding signs that meet the situation listed above shall be brought into 100% compliance before a second freestanding sign can be permitted.

NOTE: Structural components include the base and frame of the sign, but do not include the sign face.

At such time as any structural element of a nonconforming sign is replaced, the sign must be brought into compliance with the requirements of current regulations, except that a nonconforming business sign may be replaced by another nonconforming business sign, provided that all nonconformance in area, height, size, and setback is reduced by fifty percent (50%) of the difference between the existing nonconforming sign and what the regulation allows. Exception: No reduction in nonconformance shall be required for the replacement of signs, awnings, canopies and marquees that were damaged by a weather event or accident (i.e. vehicular accident) unless the damage results from neglect of maintenance or other willful act of the property owner. Replacement of structural elements in this context means the disassembly and subsequent re-assembly or the substantial alteration of the pole, base, or frame. For awnings and canopies any change to the frame shall be considered as a structural change. The replacement of material covers shall not be considered a structural change.

NOTE: The 50% compliance standard does not exempt signage from compliance with other relevant sections of this chapter (e.g. location, lighting, style, etc.)

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