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i in the ordinance sign size limitations tied to building floor dressed in the model ordinance. area. Defining what constitutes the measurable area of a sign also raises some problems.However,the definition of sign Parked Vehicles With Messages area in the model ordinance—a definition based on common Some proprietors park vehicles with signs on them in practice—effectively resolves those problems.Measurable front of their businesses. Such vehicles may range from area is defined as the area within the outer boundaries of ! autos with signs on top,to school buses with billboards at- standard geometrical shapes(primarily squares,rectangles, tached, to trailers with messages on their sides. Without and circles)containing and defined by the extreme reaches stepping into the separate and complicated problem of reg- of informational or graphic parts of the signs.Note the enor- ulating advertising on vehicles in general, the problem of mous difference between this approach and the approach i advertising on permanently parked vehicles can be ad- advocated by some in the sign industry,which is that signs dressed through broad definitions of "sign" or through with large letters should be measured by determining the specific provisions. One effective approach to the total of the areas covered by the individual letters,disregard- stationary-vehicle problem is to exempt from regulation as ing supporting graphics and surrounding and separating a sign vehicles"regularly and customarily used to transport spaces. persons or property for the business."Some communities have abandoned-vehicle regulations, which prohibit the Total Sign Area Limits parking in public view of any vehicle not in operating con- Sophisticated local sign regulations include total limits on dition and/or lacking current registration;such a regulation sign area on a particular property. Some regulations have effectively addresses the issue of parked vehicles used as one limit for all freestanding signs on a property and another signs. limit for the total signage on the property,or a separate limit for all signs that are not freestanding. Snipe Signs For reasons discussed below,total sign area limits are a far Snipe signs are signs fastened to trees or poles.Few com- more effective way to limit signage than attempts to limit the munities have effective enforcement systems for such signs, number of all types of signs.Total sign area limits can be a and most prohibit them.Because most sign regulations are function of lot area,street frontage,building area,or some drafted to allow certain signs and prohibit all others,many combination thereof.Some regulations provide a formula regulations essentially prohibit snipe signs without defining based on lot area or frontage but with an additional limit tied them. to building area.A system that relates both to lot size and to building size is typically the most responsive to aesthetic SIGN DIMENSIONS,NUMBER, AND LOCATION concerns. Such facilities as drive-through banks and It is necessary to classify signs so that they can be restaurants are often small buildings located on large lots; regulated on the basis of their characteristics.The most im- allowing the same amount of signage on such buildings as portant aspects of sign regulation are similar to the lot and would be allowed on a typical commercial building on the building dimensional requirements of a zoning ordinance— same site can yield a building that is all sign. limiting the size and number of signs and the location of each Note.that sign area limits tied to building size can effec- sign on the lot or building. tively eliminate many billboard problems because most There are a surprising number of possible approaches to billboards are located on lots where no building exists.As these apparently simple numerical concepts.The most im- for billboards located on lots in industrial districts—where portant are discussed here. there will be a building on the lot and space for the billboard—sign size should be limited to a small percentage Individual Sign Size of building floor area,and those limits alone may be enough Probably the most common restriction on signs is a limit to prevent billboards in most such locations. on the size of individual signs.That is a valid and important Area limits tied to lot dimensions can raise administrative restriction for aesthetic and safety reasons.Planners draft- questions in many communities because several subdivided ing sign regulations, however, sometimes ignore the diffi- lots are often covered by one commercial building or use. culty of monitoring and enforcing restrictions on the sizes That problem is easily resolved by defining"zone lot,"as the of individual signs.Although large pole signs may require model ordinance in this report does. construction permits of some sort, many other signs are erected, installed, or painted without any local permit, Limits on the Number of Signs whether one is required or not.Thus,enforcing the size re- Most local sign regulations limit the number of freestand- striction requires an after-the-fact measuring of a device that ing signs.That is a logical regulation to prevent clutter,and is sometimes large and in an awkward location,such as on it is easy to enforce.Some regulations tie the numerical limit top of a pole or a roof. to the number of streets on which the property has frontage, This problem is complicated in local regulations that thus allowing two signs on a corner lot. Others tie the specify a variety of different size limits on different types of number of signs to the number of driveways,a somewhat signs, often based on sign content. Although the size of capricious limitation.The better approach is generally to tie freestanding signs is an important issue,and one that is ad- the number of freestanding signs to the number of feet of lot dressed in the model ordinance, the size of individual wall frontage.Since the issue is street clutter,frontage rather than ! I signs is not the most important standard for regulation.The lot area is the better measure. total area of all wall signs and the percentage of each building Those concerned with sign regulation should be aware of surface covered are far more important and are both ad- one commercial issue affecting the number of freestanding 6