§ 7-1. Definitions.

The following words, phrases, and terms when used in this chapter have the meanings ascribed to them in this section except when the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Abandoned or obsolete means a sign:

(1)

Which, for at least ninety (90) consecutive days, has not identified or advertised a bona fide business, lessor, service, owner, product, or activity, or advertised a time which has passed or an event which has occurred; or

(2)

Which has been dilapidated for thirty (30) days or more; or

(3)

For which the city cannot determine the identity of a legal owner.

Advertising sign billboard means a sign which constitutes a primary use of land (not an accessory use) and which directs attention to a business, product, activity, or service which is not conducted, sold, offered, or located on the premises on which the sign is located.

Advertising structure with regard to a sports facility means any structure erected in conjunction with and on the same site as a sports facility for the purpose of advertising the facility as well as any product, business or service.

Advertising vehicle (inoperable) means any vehicle on which has been placed, painted, or attached symbols or verbiage advertising a product or service and which is either inoperable or which lacks either a valid Texas motor vehicle inspection sticker or valid Texas vehicle registration tag.

Advertising vehicle (operable) means any vehicle on which has been placed, painted, or attached symbols or verbiage advertising a product or service and which does not qualify as an inoperable advertising vehicle.

Awning means a shelter supported entirely from the exterior wall of a building.

Awning sign means a sign whose message is directly applied to an awning of a building. A sign attached to or painted upon an awning and visible to the exterior shall be considered a wall sign.

Banner sign means a sign designed to be hung with or without a frame, and which has characters, letters, illustrations, or ornamentation applied to cloth or flexible material of any kind.

Billboard means an outdoor advertising sign or structure, which advertises a use, product, or service not found on the premises on which the sign is located. A billboard is also known as an off-site advertising sign.

Canopy means a roof-like structure designed to provide protection for objects, pedestrians and vehicles.

Canopy sign means a sign mounted on or attached to a canopy.

City means the City of Irving.

City council means the city council of the City of Irving.

Common area with regard to a shopping mall means the covered common pedestrian area within a covered mall building, which serves as access to the various tenant areas or other amenities within the mall.

Community service sign means a sign that displays a public service message to the public such as time, temperature, weather conditions, etc.

Comprehensive development means two (2) or more adjoining lots or lots separated only by right-of-way in accordance with section 7-7 of this chapter which are operated as a single premises for purposes of access and parking in accordance with a written agreement of the property owners.

Destroyed means, with regard to a sign, that the sign is damaged or deteriorated to the extent that the cost of repairing the sign is more than sixty (60) percent of the cost of erecting a new sign of the same type at the same location.

Digital image means a static electronic image produced by digital technology displaying the full color spectrum with a television quality image.

Dilapidated sign means a sign which is decayed, deteriorated, or which has fallen into partial ruin that:

(1)

Has any portion of the finished material or surface of the message portion of the sign that is visibly faded, flaked, broken off, missing, cracked, splintered, or defective or that is otherwise visibly deteriorated or in a state of disrepair so as not to substantially appear as it was intended or designed to appear when originally constructed; or

(2)

Has an element, structural support, or frame member that is visibly bent, broken, dented, torn, twisted, leaning, or at angles other than those at which it was originally erected.

Directional sign means a sign, located on private property, which directs vehicular traffic. The sign may display arrows, words, or other symbols to indicate the direction of the facilities. No goods or services for sale may be listed.

Director means the director of the department of inspections of the City of Irving and his or her designee.

Director of traffic and transportation means the director of traffic and transportation of the City of Irving and his or her designee.

Easement means a right created by grant, reservation, agreement, prescription, or necessary implication, which one has in the land of another. It is either for the benefit of appurtenant land such as for the right to cross, or in gross, such as a public utility easement, or in specific, such as an exclusive utility easement. An easement may or may not have descriptive bounds.

Electric-discharge lighting means a system of illumination utilizing florescent lamps, high intensity discharge (HID) lamps, or neon tubing.

Electronic sign means a sign, display, or device that changes its message by programmable electronic processes; utilizes digital images or light-emitting diode technology; or employs electronic variable messages in any manner. This term includes but is not limited to: digital sign, electronic message center, electronic video screen, LED sign, and sign with a digital image.

Flag means any cloth or flexible fabric displayed on a pole, professionally designed and installed solely for the purpose of displaying the flag.

Front façade means a face of the building which faces a public street; or where no building façade faces a public street, the façade which contains the door open to the public during business hours.

Front side with respect to a building canopy means any side parallel to or more nearly parallel to than perpendicular to the building wall to which the canopy is attached.

Governmental sign means a sign required, authorized, or installed by a governmental entity.

Lateral side with respect to a building canopy means any side perpendicular to or more perpendicular to than parallel to the building wall to which the canopy is attached.

Law means any constitution, statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of the United States, the State of Texas, the City of Irving, or any of their agencies or subdivisions.

Lighting means the illumination of a sign face by a hidden source of light interior to the sign or by a source of light exterior to and not a part of the sign.

Logo means any design or insignia of a company or product which is commonly used in advertising to identify that company or product.

Marquee means a permanent roofed structure attached to and supported by the building and projecting over public property.

Median means a divider being a strip of land between oncoming lanes of a roadway.

Menu board sign means an outside sign utilized by the public patronizing a drive-through business as to a bill of fare or other products or services.

Monument sign means a sign resting on the ground immediately below it or with the bottom of the sign within eighteen (18) inches of the ground immediately below it.

Multi-family means any property in any zoning district that allows four (4) or more residential units on one (1) lot.

Multi-tenant directory sign means a sign which is an accessory use of land and which directs attention to more than one (1) business, commercial use or corporate location in the same development in which the sign is located.

Mural means a depiction painted on or attached to an exterior structure, which represents an historical event, tourist attraction or other message and that does not advertise services or products available for sale or consumption on the premises.

Neon or luminous gas tubing means electric-discharge tubing manufactured into shapes that form letters, parts of letters, skeleton tubing, outline lighting, other decorative elements, or art forms, and filled with various luminescent inert gases including, but not limited to, neon, argon and krypton.

Neon tubing sign means a sign attached directly to a exterior wall surface or exterior roof surface neon tubing forming a border for advertising subject matter, directing attention to advertising subject matter, or forming letters, logos, or pictorial designs.

Noncommercial sign means a sign which conveys a message other than commercial advertising.

Painted wall or painted roof sign means any sign that is painted directly on a wall or roof surface.

Pennant means any lightweight plastic, fabric, or other material whether or not it contains a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire or string designed to move in the wind and whether existing in a series or individually.

Person means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, group of individuals, or other legal entity.

Pole sign means a sign which is supported by one (1) or more columns, poles, uprights, or braces in or upon the ground and which is not part of a building. The phrase includes billboards and pole signs supported by and placed on a single pole or standard.

Portable sign means a sign which can be easily moved from place to place.

Projecting sign means a sign which is attached or affixed perpendicularly or more perpendicularly than parallel to a building wall or structure other than a pole and extends or projects from it more than twelve (12) inches.

Public right-of-way means a strip of land which is used as a roadbed for a street, alley, highway intended for use by the public at large, or land set aside as an easement or in fee, either by agreement or condemnation.

Real estate sign means a sign which advertises a parcel of land or a structure for rent, lease, or sale. The phrase includes subdivision signs and model home signs.

Residential district means a district zoned for residential use in the City of Irving comprehensive zoning ordinance excluding multi-family.

Residential subdivision sign means a sign identifying a residential subdivision actively marketing developed lots for sale.

Responsible person defined means the sign permit applicant, owner, agent, person or persons having the beneficial use of the sign, the owner of the land or structure on which the sign is located, the person responding on behalf of such advertising, and the person in charge of erecting the sign are all subject to the provisions of this chapter.

Roof sign means a sign or sign structure.

(1)

Erected on a vertical framework supported by and located immediately and entirely over the roof of a building;

(2)

Attached to a fascia extending above or below the projection of the fascia; or

(3)

Painted or otherwise affixed on a roof, including architectural and decorative mansard roofs.

Revolving sign means a sign, which revolves on, revolves around or revolves about a structural support. A structural support can be a pole, building or other type of support. Revolving parts within or upon a display surface shall not be construed as a revolving sign.

Setback means the distance from the property line or right-of-way line of all streets adjacent to the premises on which a sign is located to the part of the sign closest to the property line or right-of-way line.

Sign body means a portion of a sign that may provide protection from the weather, but is not an electrical enclosure.

Sign means a lettered surface or other physical display used to identify, advertise, warn, direct, inform, or propound.

Sign contractor means a person who, for remuneration, erects, maintains, constructs, or reconstructs a sign on the premises of another. It does not mean the owner or an employee of the owner who owns or leases the premises on which the sign is located when the sign advertises the business on whose property the sign is located.

Sign contracting means engaging in the business of erecting, maintaining, constructing, or reconstructing signs.

Sign envelope means the area of the sign on which any message, graphic, illustration, etc. extend as illustrated in Figure 1.

Sign face means the surface of the sign upon, against, or through which a message is displayed or illustrated, not including the sign structure or frame.

Sign reface means the alteration of or reconstruction of the sign face, not including the sign structure or frame.

Sign structure means any part of a sign including the base, supporting columns or braces, display surface, or any other of its appendages.

Skeleton tubing means neon tubing that is itself the sign or outline lighting and not attached to an enclosure or sign body.

Sporting activities includes, but is not limited to, baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, rugby, track and field, soccer, and wrestling.

Sports facility means any facility which is enclosed by walls; expressly designed for the conduct of sports activities; owned by the state, a political subdivision of the state, a public or private school, a college, or a university; in which sports activities are conducted from time to time; and which has a seating capacity of five thousand (5,000) or more spectators.

Streamer means a narrow free-floating strip of cloth, paper, plastic, or similar material.

Subdivision identification sign means a sign which permanently identifies a residential subdivision and which will be maintained through the provision of deeds and covenants associated with a homeowner's association.

Temporary sign means a sign constructed of cloth, canvas, light fabric, cardboard, wallboard or other like materials, with or without frames which is not permanently attached to the ground, wall or building, and which is intended to be displayed for a short period of time only.

Unified sign agreement is a document signed by property owners providing property owner authorization authorizing placement of multi-tenant directory signs in lieu of any pole signs in the development.

Wall sign means a sign attached to a wall, window, awning, canopy, parapet or marquee of a building with the sign facing parallel to and not more than twelve (12) inches from the wall surface.

Window sign means a sign which is applied on or over a window or is designed primarily to be visible through a window from the exterior of a building. A sign applied on or over a window and visible through a window from the exterior of a building is a wall sign.

(Ord. No. 2009-9034, § 1, 1-8-09; Ord. No. 2009-9059, § 1, 4-9-09; Ord. No. 2010-9216, § 1, 10-22-10; Ord. No. 2010-9228, § 1, 12-9-10)