§ 7.04. General Restrictions.

The following general restrictions shall apply to all signs:

7.04.01. Obstruction by Signs: No person shall erect, construct, suspend or maintain any sign across, over or above any public right-of-way, sidewalk or any portion thereof except banners for public events when approved by the Chief of Police or his designee. No sign shall be erected, constructed or maintained in any manner that obstructs a means of egress, any opening necessary for required light or ventilation, or any access required for fire fighting. No sign shall be erected in a manner that obstructs the safe flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic. No sign shall be constructed on any exterior yard so as to constitute a hazardous visual obstruction to traffic in any direction.

7.04.02. Vehicular Signs: No sign shall be displayed on or attached to any vehicle that requires a state inspection sticker other than for immediate transfer from or to a permitted location. This subsection shall not be construed as prohibiting the customary commercial or industrial logo, location, phone numbers, identification numbers and slogan carried on the sides of a commercial vehicle and intended for identification. Any vehicle displaying advertising and parked off-premise of the business so advertised, that does not carry a valid state inspection sticker or a valid license and is parked in such a manner as to be conspicuous to the motoring public shall be considered an off-premise sign for the purposes of this Ordinance.

7.04.03. Spectacular Signs: The following restrictions apply to spectacular signs:

A.

Signs with flashing, glaring, strobe, chasing, rotating or blinking lights shall be prohibited.

B.

Signs which interfere with the safe operation of motor vehicles by the nature of their design or the manner of their operation are prohibited.

C.

Automatically changeable advertising shall be limited to no more than one (1) message every eight (8) seconds.

D.

Signs which alternately display time and temperature shall conform to standard industry design for such signs. The message shall not change in less than a ten-second interval.

E.

Digital signs, with display areas of less than one hundred (100) square feet, shall not change message in less than a five-minute interval.

F.

All spectacular signs shall be placed parallel to the roadway with a deviation of not greater than twenty (20) degrees with the exception of:

1.

Automatically changeable advertising,

2.

Signs which alternatively display time and temperature.

7.04.04. Signs Confusingly Similar to Traffic-Controlled Devices: No sign confusingly similar to a traffic control sign or device shall be placed in the view of any street or thoroughfare. The words "stop," "danger," "yield" and similar words, phrases and symbols that may interfere with, mislead or confuse vehicular traffic are also prohibited.

7.04.05. Sign Illumination: Only internal, direct, indirect, diffuse or neon lighting shall be permitted.

7.04.06. Exemption from Building Setback Restriction: Signs permitted under this Ordinance shall be exempted from the setback restrictions imposed by the Zoning Ordinances.

7.04.07. Signs Prohibited on Easements and Right-of-ways: No signs shall be placed on or over any public right-of-way, water, sewer or drainage easements except signs erected by the Texas Highway Department, Galveston County, the City of Santa Fe and signs identifying underground pipeline structures. No signs in this category shall be allowed to maintain a pre-existing nonconforming status.

7.04.07.01 Signs Prohibited on Public Property: No signs shall be placed, posted or displayed or other wise attached upon any street lamp post, street sign, traffic sign or signal, hydrant, tree, shrub, fence or utility pole.

7.04.08. Re-inspection: Signs shall be subjected to a re-inspection. The sign face shall be kept in good repair. If portions of the sign face or structure are incomplete or missing, and upon notice to the permit holder, the sign face is not repaired within a period of thirty (30) days or if a structural defect exists and is not repaired within fifteen (15) days from notice, the sign shall be considered to be an abandoned sign.

7.04.09. Emergency Abandonment: When a sign has been found to have structural design flaws or to have structural defects constituting a clear and immediate threat to the public or to adjacent property owners, the Code Enforcement Officer shall take action to secure or dismantle the threatening sign at City expense and to charge the owner such cost. A first lien can be secured against the property owner for nonpayment.

7.04.10. Temporary Sign Removal: Temporary signs shall be removed within twenty-four (24) hours after the event advertised.

7.04.11. Sign lettering: Professional even lettering with clearly legible font styles is required on all permanent or temporary signs within the City of Santa Fe.

7.04.12. Sign design and color: The design of all signs shall be unobtrusive and of a design, material and color that blend harmoniously with the natural surroundings, and the scale of neighboring architecture.

Predominant color design shall be compatible and traditional historic colors, earth tones (greens, tans, light browns and terracotta), grays, pale primary and secondary colors, white and cream tones. Accent color design (i.e., black, dark blue, grays and other primary colors) may be used on a limited basis.

(Ord. No. 11-2011, § 4, 8-25-11; Ord. No. 08-2012, §§ 1, 2, 2-23-12)