§ 7.07. Off-Premise.

7.07.01. Permanent Off-Premise Signs: Effective on the date of passage of this Article, no new permanent off-premise signs shall be erected or re-erected within the City limits of the City of Santa Fe except as provided for in this Article or as installed by the City of Santa Fe. This provision does not prohibit the ordinary maintenance or the conversion to digital billboards, to such previously erected signs, but such signs shall otherwise not be improved nor enlarged. Excluding Digital Billboards, if a sign is fifty (50) percent or more destroyed, as determined by the Building Official, it shall be removed by the owner and not re-erected.

7.07.02. Temporary Off-Premise Signs: No temporary off-premise signs shall be erected within the City of Santa Fe.

7.07.03 Billboards: All billboard signs are prohibited. This provision does not prohibit the ordinary maintenance of such previously erected signs during the amortization schedule for removal, but such signs shall not be improved nor enlarged. Excluding billboard signs constructed or reconstructed in conformance with this ordinance and through a Digital Billboard Conversion Agreement, if a billboard sign is fifty (50) percent or more destroyed, as determined by the Building Official, it shall be removed by the owner and not re-erected.

A.

Notwithstanding Sec. 7.07.01, 7.08.04 and any other provision of this article, an existing off-premise billboard may be converted to a digital billboard sign subject to the provisions of this Section. Only a billboard sign constructed or reconstructed in conformance with this ordinance and a Digital Billboard Conversion Agreement will be considered a conforming sign and all requirements of this Section are met.

Digital Billboard means an off-premise sign utilizing digital message technology, capable of changing the static message or copy on the sign electronically. A Digital Billboard may be internally or externally illuminated. Digital Billboards shall contain static messages only, and shall not have animation, movement, or the appearance or optical illusion of movement, of any part of the sign structure, design, or pictorial segment of the sign. Each static message shall not include blinking, flashing, scintillating lighting or the varying of light intensity.

Digital Billboard Conversion Agreement: An existing traditional face off-premise billboard sign may be modified to support an electronic face(s) as a digital billboard if the owner presents the City Manager with pictorial proof and a sworn affidavit evidencing the removal of at least two (2) square feet of traditional face from within the city for every one (1) square foot of digital face display area to be erected. (Example: for a 576 sq. ft. digital face, an owner would have to remove at least 1,152 sq. ft. of existing traditional sign face area.) The removal of the face of which the digital face will replace does not count toward the removal total. Prior to issuance of a building permit the City Manager or their designee must approve a Digital Billboard Conversion Agreement which outlines which static billboards are being removed and the location and the dimensions of the digital billboards being constructed.

The owner of an existing off-premises billboard sign may replace any or all the structural components necessary to support a digital face(s). The sign structure that is modified or replaced:

1.

Shall not increase the number of physical faces on the structure.

2.

Shall not have a digital face with an active copy area that exceeds five hundred eighty (580) square feet or has an active copy area greater than the original sign face.

3.

Shall obtain all necessary electrical permits from the City.

4.

Must comply with all State Regulations. If there is any conflict between State and City Regulations, the more restrictive shall apply.

The owner of an off-premises digital sign(s) shall coordinate with local authorities to display, when appropriate, emergency information important to the traveling public such as Amber Alerts, alerts concerning terrorist attacks, natural disasters or as authorized by the Office of Emergency Management. Emergency information messages shall remain in the advertising rotation according to the protocols of the agency that issues the information. The owner of an off-premise digital sign(s) shall also coordinate with the City of Santa Fe to display community information for 0.005 percent of the annual display time. At least fifty (50) percent of the Community information will be displayed during peak times.

B.

Digital billboard requirements:

1.

Maximum Display Area: Five hundred eighty (580) square feet, or the active copy area shall not be greater than the original sign face.

2.

Maximum Height: Thirty-five (35) feet.

3.

Location: Must maintain a one thousand-foot separation from other billboards, as measured along the same side of the road the sign is designed to be visible from and setback a minimum of five hundred (500) feet from a platted residential area, at the time the digital billboard is permitted.

4.

Dwell Time: Messages shall remain static for at least eight (8) seconds and change message shall be accomplished within two (2) seconds.

5.

Display: No display shall include animation, full motion video, dissolving or fading images, moving light, scrolling images or text, nor shall it project a static image upon a stationary object.

6.

Change of Message: Must occur simultaneously on the entire sign.

7.

Brightness: Limited to 0.3 foot candles over ambient light conditions measured at a distance of one hundred fifty (150) feet from the sign for a nominal size twelve-foot by twenty-five-foot (12' × 25') sign face.

8.

Malfunction: Sign shall contain a default mechanism built in to either turn off the display or show "full black" or company logo only on the display if a malfunction occurs.

9.

Automatic Dimmer: Sign face shall be equipped with both a dimmer control and photocell that automatically adjusts the face's intensity according to natural ambient light conditions.

10.

Windstorm requirement: All signs in this category shall be certified by a qualified engineer as anchored against up-lift and overturning resulting from winds of not less than one hundred twenty (120) miles per hour.

(Ord. No. 11-2011, § 4, 8-25-11; Ord. No. 08-2012, §§ 3, 4, 2-23-12)