CHAPTER 4-09
OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SECTIONS:
4-0901. Definitions.
4-0902. Permit Required.
4-0903. Prohibition.
4-0904. Exemptions.
4-0905. Bond Required.
4-0906. Annual License Fee.
4-0907. Identification of Manufacturer, Fabricator, or Erector.
4-0908. Violations.
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4-0901. DEFINITIONS.
1. “Erect” shall mean to construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or establish.
2. “Maintain” shall mean to exist.
3. “Outdoor Advertising” shall mean a sign, display, or device of any kind or character, including statuary, erected or maintained, for outdoor advertising purposes, upon which any poster, bill, printing, painting, or other advertisement of any kind whatsoever may be placed for advertising purposes and shall include but not be limited to any card, cloth, paper, metal, painted, or wooden sign of any character placed for outdoor advertising purposes, on or affixed to the ground or any tree, wall, bush, rock, fence, building, structure, or thing, either privately or publicly owned. The terms “sign, display, or device” comprehend all forms of outdoor advertising, and the use of one such term in this chapter includes all forms of outdoor advertising.
4-0902. PERMIT REQUIRED.
1. No person, firm or corporation shall erect, maintain or display any form of outdoor advertising within the City limits of the City of Harwood or within the boundaries of its extraterritorial jurisdiction without having first obtained an outdoor advertising permit from the City Council.
2. Application for an outdoor advertising permit shall be made in writing and shall state or show in detail the nature of the proposed outdoor advertising and the materials to be used in erecting and displaying the advertising.
3. Each application for an outdoor advertising permit shall be accompanied by a fee in such amount as may be adopted by resolution of the City Council.
4. Upon receipt of an application for an outdoor advertising permit, the City Council may consider such application at a special meeting or at its next regular meeting. Additional information concerning the proposed outdoor advertising shall be supplied to the City Council upon request.
5. The City Council may issue an outdoor advertising permit if it determines that the proposed outdoor advertising will not be injurious to the pubic health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience, and general welfare. In making such determination, the City Council shall consider the following factors:
a. The zoning classification of the proposed site;
b. The City’s plans for orderly growth and development in the proposed area;
c. The size, nature and materials to be used in the outdoor advertising;
d. Whether the character of the neighborhood in which the proposed site is located would be maintained despite the outdoor advertising;
e. Public safety and traffic matters;
f. The effect on property values in the area surrounding the proposed site;
g. The need for additional outdoor advertising within the City;
h. Any other matters it deems relevant. In addition, the City Council may impose such restrictions or conditions upon the outdoor advertising or the materials used in erecting or displaying the outdoor advertising as it deems necessary and proper.
6. The City Council shall make its reasons for the issuance, denial or conditional issuance of an outdoor advertising permit part of the official record of its proceedings.
7. Any permit issued hereunder shall expire within 60 days from the date of issuance unless the outdoor advertising authorized therein shall have commenced within that period of time.
8. In addition to the permit required herein, a building permit shall also be obtained for the construction, reconstruction, structural alteration or erection of any outdoor advertising.
4-0903. PROHIBITION. Notwithstanding the above, no outdoor advertising shall be erected or maintained in any R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 zoning districts or within 500 feet of any such zoning district boundary line.
4-0904. EXEMPTIONS. The following forms of outdoor advertising shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter:
1. Official signs and notices and directional signs and notices that do not advertise goods or services.
2. Signs advertising the sale or lease of property upon which they are located.
3. Signs specifically advertising activities conducted, services rendered, goods sold, stored, produced, or the name of the enterprise on the property upon which they are located; provided, however, that this exemption shall apply only to signs not exceeding 15 square feet in surface area.
4. Signs calling attention to the location of buried utility lines;
5. Official highway signs within interstate rights-of-way giving specific information for the traveling public; and
6. Signs specifically authorized by other sections of these ordinances.
4-0905. BOND REQUIRED. In addition to the permits required hereunder, every person, firm or corporation engaging in the erection or maintenance of any outdoor advertising shall give a bond in the sum of $3,000, with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the City Auditor and City Attorney of the City of Harwood, conditioned, among other things, that said party will indemnify and hold harmless the City of Harwood, and any person, for a period of two years after the erection of any outdoor advertising, from any and all charges, costs, expenses, judgments, or damages caused by reason of any negligence on the part of said party or any servant or employee of said party, or by the use of any insufficient or insecure support attachments, or by improper, unsuitable, or unskilled workmanship in the erection or maintenance of any outdoor advertising.
4-0906. ANNUAL LICENSE FEE. In addition to the permits and bond required hereunder, every person, firm or corporation engaging in the erection or maintenance of any outdoor advertising shall pay an annual license fee in such amount as may be established by resolution of the City Council from time to time.
4-0907. IDENTIFICATION OF MANUFACTURER, FABRICATOR, OR ERECTOR. Every piece of outdoor advertising erected or maintained in the City of Harwood shall be clearly marked by some permanent means and in a location on said outdoor advertising which is readily visible. Said marking shall state the name and address of the manufacturer, fabricator and installer or erector of such sign.
4-0908. VIOLATIONS.
1. In the case of any violation of this ordinance, the building inspector shall issue any appropriate order to prevent the unlawful erection or maintenance of any outdoor advertising or to restrain, correct or abate any existing outdoor advertising in violation of this ordinance. In the event the offending party does not comply with the building inspector’s order within seven days, each day thereafter that the violation is allowed to continue shall constitute a new and separate violation punishable hereunder.
2. Every person, firm or corporation violating this ordinance shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not to exceed $500, or by imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. The court shall have power to suspend said sentence and to revoke the suspension thereof.
3. The owner, lessor, lessee or tenant of any land, building or structure on which any outdoor advertising is erected or maintained and any builder, contractor, agent or other person who commits, participates in, assists in or maintains any violations of this ordinance may be found guilty of a separate offense and suffer the same penalties as provided herein.