§ 17.28.020. DEFINITIONS.

For the purposes of this chapter, the words set out in this section shall have the following meanings:

ADVERTISING STRUCTURE. Any ground sign, billboard or other structure, and all parts thereof, which is erected or used for advertising purposes or upon which any poster, bill, bulletin, printing, painting, device or other advertising matter of any kind whatsoever is placed, posted, tacked, nailed or otherwise fastened, including also glass tube outlining for advertising and electric signs; but shall not include any board, sign or surface used exclusively to display official notices issued by any court or public office or posted by any public officer in the performance of a public duty, or a private person giving legal notice.

BALLOON. Any device or object three feet or greater in any dimension that encapsulates or contains compressed air, helium, hydrogen, or any gas, in any state of inflation or deflation, at rest but not flying, and/or whether painted or in any way marked, or without any markings, used to call attention to a business in a manner similar to a sign.

BILLBOARD or OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGN. A sign placed for the purpose of advertising products or services that are not produced, stored, or sold on the property upon which the sign is located.

DIRECTIONAL/INSTRUCTIONAL SIGN. An on-site sign on private property the sole purpose of which is to direct the flow of traffic, transmit parking information or convey similar such information.

ELECTRONIC MESSAGE BOARD. A sign, display or device, including a digital electronic sign and LED (light emitting diode) sign that changes its message or copy by programmable electronic or mechanical processes, regardless of size. Also, a sign utilizing a fixed light source to provide a message in text, images, pictures, and/or symbols that may appear to move or may appear as an on/off message.

ELEVATED CENTER IDENTIFICATION SIGN. A sign elevated from the ground on two piers and detached from any building.

FREESTANDING SIGN. A sign supported by uprights or braces placed upon or into the ground and detached from any building.

MARQUEE SIGN. A sign placed on the building face or at the entrance of a playhouse or theater.

MONUMENT SIGN. A low-profile ground sign incorporating the design and building material of the primary use of the property. No poles for the support of sign face shall be permitted.

PLACED. Shall include “erected”, “projected”, “constructed”, “posted” or painted, printed, tacked, glued, stuck, carved or otherwise fastened, fixed, or made visible in any manner whatsoever.

PUBLIC SERVICE SIGN. A sign supported by uprights or braces upon or in to the ground and detached from any building. The sign shall carry messages with public service content subject to the approval of the Committee.

REGIONAL COMMERCIAL BUSINESS. A retail use that generally requires a seven-mile radius trade area or greater and freeway visibility, and produces minimum annual retail sales of $10,000,000 or more (1989 figure shall be adjusted annually to the standard Metropolitan price index). Such uses are new car automobile sales dealerships and regional shopping centers.

SIGNS. Shall include, without limitation, all outdoor advertising on any card, cloth, paper, paint, plastic, metal, painted glass, wooden or stone materials, and any and all devices, structural or otherwise, lighted or unlighted, painted or not painted, attached to, made a part of or placed in the window of, in the front, rear, sides or top of any structure and visible from any public or private street, way, thoroughfare, alley or walk, which device in any manner, or by any means, whether enumerated in this section or not, announces or directs attention to the name, nature, merits, availability, or price of a business, occupant of a structure, building or land or the name, nature, merits, availability, price or type of goods, services or products, produced, sold, stored, furnished or available at that location or at any other location, including signs specifically for the sale of real property, and shall include all parts, portions, units and materials composing the same, together with the frame, background, structure and support and anchorage therefor, as the case may be, but shall not include official notices issued by any court or public body or officer or directional warning or information sign or structures required by or authorized by law or by federal, state, county, or city authority.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING DEVICE. Any type or kind of sign not explicitly delineated herein that according to the Development Review Committee follows the intent of this chapter under the guidelines and restrictions of the sign type it most closely resembles for the zone or area in which it is located as far as location, size, and design.

TEMPORARY DISPLAY SIGN. Any placard, banner, object, structure, group of goods or objects displayed in any way not in a window, including balloons under three feet in size, so as to not qualify as any other type of sign, and shall include grand opening and sale announcements.

(`83 Code, § 17.28.020) (Ord. 94-03 § 6, 1994; Ord. 2009-06 §§ 5, 6, 2009)