Laserfiche WebLink
5. Applicable Standards. <br />1. Measurement Standards. <br />1. Sign Area and Dimensions. <br />1. For a wall sign which is framed, outlined, painted or otherwise prepared and intended to provide <br />a background for a sign display, the area and dimensions shall include the entire portion within <br />such background or frame. <br />2. For a wall sign comprised of individual letters, figures or elements on a wall or similar surface of <br />the building or structure, the area and dimensions of the sign shall encompass a regular geometric <br />shape or a combination of regular geometric shapes which form, or approximate, the perimeter of <br />all elements in the display, the frame, and any applied background that is not part of the <br />architecture of the building. When separate elements are organized to form a single sign, but are <br />separated by open space, the sign area and dimensions shall be calculated by determining the <br />geometric form, or combination of forms, which comprises all of the display areas, including the <br />space between different areas. Minor appendages to a particular regular shape, as determined by <br />the Zoning Administrator, shall not be included in the total area of a sign. <br />Figures (for illustration): To be inserted later. <br />3. For a freestanding sign, the sign area shall include the frame, if any, but shall not include a pole <br />or other structural support unless such pole or structural support is internally illuminated or <br />otherwise so designed to constitute a display device, or part of a display device. Architectural <br />features that are either part of the building or part of a freestanding structure, and not an integral <br />part of the sign, and which may consist of landscaping, building or structural forms <br />complimenting the landscaping in general. <br />4. When two identical sign faces are placed back to back so that both faces cannot be viewed from <br />any point at the same time, and are part of the same sign structure, the sign area shall be <br />computed as the measurement of one of the two faces. When the sign has more than two display <br />surfaces, the area of the sign shall be the area of largest display surfaces that are visible from any <br />single direction. <br />2. Sign Height. <br />1. The height of a freestanding sign shall be measured from the base of the sign or supportive <br />structure at its point of attachment to the ground, to the highest point of the sign. A freestanding <br />sign on a man-made base, including a graded earth mound, shall be measured from the grade of <br />the nearest pavement or top of any pavement curb. <br />2. Clearances for freestanding and projecting signs shall be measured as the smallest vertical <br />distance between finished grade and the lowest point of the sign, including any framework or <br />other embellishments. <br />3. Frontages and Frontage Lengths. <br />1. The length of any primary or secondary building frontage shall be the sum of all wall lengths <br />parallel, or nearly parallel, to such frontage, excluding any such wall length determined by the <br />Zoning Administrator to be clearly unrelated to the frontage presence of the building. <br />2. For buildings with two or more frontages, the length of the wall and allowable sign area shall be <br />calculated separately for each such building frontage. <br />3. The building frontage for a section of any building (e.g. retail tenant spaces) shall be measured <br />from the centerline of the party walls defining the building section. <br />Updated January 2025 — Gem Lake Consolidated Land Use Ordinance No. 131 99 <br />