G-10-03-25-9A1 - 3/25/2010ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 3, SECTIONS 3.1403,
3.1404, AND 3.1406, CODE OF ORDINANCES (1995 EDITION),
CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS, REGARDING REAL ESTATE
MARKETING SIGNS AND POLE MOUNTED BANNERS; AND
PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE AND REPEALING
CONFLICTING ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROUND
ROCK, TEXAS:
I.
That Chapter 3, Section 3.1403(1), Code of Ordinances (1995
Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read
as follows:
3.1403 BUSINESS USES SIGNS
(1) Definitions. For the purposes of this Section, certain terms and words are hereby
defined. Terms not defined herein shall be construed in accordance with Chapter 11,
Zoning and other Codes and ordinances or their customary usage.
(a) Animated Sign. Any sign that uses movement or change of lighting to depict
action or motion.
(b) Banner. Any sign printed or displayed upon cloth or other flexible material,
with or without frames.
(c) Building. A structure built, maintained, or intended for use for the shelter or
enclosure of persons, animals or property of any kind.
(d) Business Use. Land uses classified by the Zoning Ordinance as commercial or
industrial, including churches, schools, and multi -family projects, but not
customary home occupations.
(e) Changeable Copy Sign. A sign or portion thereof with characters, letters, or
illustrations that can be changed or rearranged.
(f) Cluster Sign Site. A tract of land located in a Large Center on a Frontage Road
and limited to use for a sign cluster and the associated landscaping.
Free Standing Sign. Any sign which is attached to or part of a completely self-
supporting structure. The supporting structure shall be firmly in or below the
ground surface and not attached to any building or other structure, whether
portable or stationary.
(g)
(h) Freeway. Any highway that contains frontage roads.
(i) Frontage Road. The set of lanes on either side of a Freeway, which parallel the
Freeway center lanes and provide access to abutting properties.
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(j) Fuel Outlet. A business use where gasoline or other type of fuel for motor
vehicles is pumped for sale.
(k) Gross Floor Area. The total area in square feet of all floors of a building,
measured from the exterior walls.
(1) Large Center. A lot or group of adjacent lots in the same subdivision consisting
of three (3) acres of land or more and containing commercial or industrial land
uses.
(m) Lot. A single, legally created parcel of land intended as a unit for transfer of
ownership or for development that is occupied by one building or use and the
accessory buildings or uses customarily incident to it, and having frontage on a
dedicated street. Lot includes the word "plot" or "parcel".
(n) Monument Sign. Any sign which is separate from buildings and the entire
bottom of which is in contact with or in close proximity to the ground.
(o) Pole Mounted Banner. Shall mean a sign mounted on a vertical light pole.
(p) Pole Sign. Any sign that is supported by a pole or poles, said pole or poles
being separate from buildings.
(q) Sign. Any device or surface on which letters, numbers, illustrations, designs,
figures, or other symbols are painted, printed, stamped, raised, projected or in
any manner outlined or attached and is used for the purposes of advertisement,
announcement, declaration, demonstration, display, identification or
expression.
(r) Sign Area. Surface or face of a sign used for the purpose of communicating
information to the public. As specified in Table 3.1403, this measurement is
expressed as a square footage amount authorized to each sign face. The sign
area shall be computed by means of the smallest polygon or circle or
combination thereof that will encompass the extreme limits of the writing,
representation, emblem or other display and is contained within the respective
sign cabinet.
(s) Sign Cabinet. The structure or border used to differentiate a sign face from the
structure against which a sign face is placed.
(t) Small Center. A lot or lots consisting of fewer than three (3) acres of land and
containing authorized business uses.
(u) Spacing. The distance required between signs of the same category or, between
Large Center and Small Center Signs on Frontage Roads.
(v) Standard Roadway. Any public street or highway that is not a freeway.
(w) Tenancy. A Small Center containing more than one (1) business.
II.
That Chapter 3, Section 3.1403, Code of Ordinances (1995
Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to add a
new subsection (5) which shall read as follows:
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3.1403 BUSINESS USES SIGNS
(5)
Pole Mounted Banners. Business Uses are permitted to have Pole Mounted Banners
that are in compliance with the following regulations:
(a) Each banner shall be limited to no more than six (6) square feet in size.
(b) There shall be no more than two pole mounted banners on each pole.
(c) The banners shall be placed on fixtures that are purposefully designed for the
pole.
(d) The minimum height of the banner shall be ten (10) feet as measured from the
adjacent grade to the bottom of the banner.
(e) The banners shall be maintained in good repair and shall be replaced or
removed if they become tattered or torn.
(f) The banners shall not be illuminated, except for indirect lighting associated
with the main lamp of the pole to which they are mounted.
(g) The banners shall be limited to cloth, flexible plastic, vinyl, or similar
material.
(h) No permit from the City shall be required to display Pole Mounted Banners.
That Chapter 3, Section 3.1403(5), Code of Ordinances (1995
Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read
as follows:
(6) Prohibited Signs
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to erect, relocate, repair, repaint or
materially alter any Sign, as defined herein, within the city's limits or
extraterritorial jurisdiction, without first obtaining a building permit issued by
the Chief Building Official or his designee, as directed in Section 3.106 of this
Code.
(b) All signs not expressly authorized by this Section or exempt from the
regulations hereunder in accordance with this Code are prohibited. Such
unauthorized Signs include, but are not limited to, inflatable signs, tethered
balloons, and the use of beacons or search lights for advertising purposes.
IV.
That Chapter 3, Section 3.1404, Code of Ordinances (1995
Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read
as follows:
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3.1404 REAL ESTATE MARKETING SIGNS
(1) Subdivision Marketing. For the purpose of marketing lots within a recorded
subdivision, one (1) on -premises Sign of not more than three hundred twenty (320)
square feet for each road abutting the respective subdivision shall be allowed, provided
that such Sign shall not exceed thirty (30) feet in height.
(2) Business Use Marketing. For the purpose of marketing a Building or portion thereof,
for sale or lease, on a Lot zoned for a Business Use, one (1) on -premises Sign shall be
allowed. No permit shall be required to display the following Sign(s). The size of the
Sign allowed under this subsection shall be determined by Lot size:
(a) One acre or less. On a Lot of one (1) acre or less, for the purpose of
marketing a Building or portion thereof, for sale or lease, a Sign with a Sign
Area of not more than sixteen (16) square feet and a height of not more than
eight (8) feet shall be allowed.
One to three acres. On a Lot of more than one (1) acre and less than three (3)
acres, for the purpose of marketing a Building or portion thereof, for sale or
lease, a Sign with a Sign Area of not more than thirty two (32) square feet and
a height of not more than eight (8) feet shall be allowed.
(c) Three acres or more. On a Lot of three (3) acres or more, for the purpose of
marketing a Building or portion thereof, for sale or lease, a Sign with a Sign
Area of not more than thirty two (32) square feet and a height of not more than
eight (8) feet shall be allowed.
(d) New construction on three acres or more. For the purpose of marketing new
construction on a Lot of three (3) acres or more, for sale or lease, one (1) on -
premises Sign shall be allowed, provided that such Sign shall not have a Sign
Area of more than one hundred and twenty eight (128) square feet and a height
of not more than sixteen (16) feet. The Sign may be displayed for a period of
up to two (2) years. The two (2) year period begins with the issuance of the
first Building Permit. The Sign must be removed after two (2) years or eighty
(80) percent of all Buildings on the Lot have been sold or leased, as measured
by Gross Floor Area, whichever occurs first. After the one hundred and
twenty eight (128) square foot Sign is removed it may be replaced by a thirty
two (32) square foot sign.
Single Family and Two Family Marketing. In areas zoned for SF -1, SF -2, or TF, for
the purposes of marketing a building for sale or lease, one (1) on -premises sign of not
more than four (4) square feet shall be allowed. No permit shall be required to display
the foregoing sign.
(3)
(b)
V.
That Chapter 3, Section 3.1406, Code of Ordinances (1995
Edition), City of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby amended to read
as follows:
3.1406 TEMPORARY SIGNS
Temporary signs not exceeding forty (40) square feet in area pertaining to drives or events of
civic, philanthropic, education, or religious organizations, provided that said signs are posted
only during said drive or no more than thirty (30) days prior to said event and are removed no
more than seven (7) days after an event are exempt from the provisions of this section. The city
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council may grant a special permit for temporary signs or banners over a street or public way.
A temporary banner may exceed twenty (20) square feet in area in the discretion of the city
council.
VI.
A. All ordinances, parts of ordinances, or resolutions in
conflict herewith are expressly repealed.
B. The invalidity of any section or provision of this
ordinance shall not invalidate other sections or provisions
thereof.
C. The City Council hereby finds and declares that
written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of the
meeting at which this Ordinance was adopted was posted and that
such meeting was open to the public as required by law at all
times during which this Ordinance and the subject matter hereof
were discussed, considered and formally acted upon, all as
required by the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Texas Government
Code, as amended.
Alternative 1.
By motion duly made, seconded and passed with an
affirmative vote of all the Council members present, the
requirement for reading this ordinance on two separate days was
dispensed with.
READ, PASSED, and ADOPTED on first reading this 2511-1'day
of , 2010.
Alternative 2.
READ and APPROVED on first reading this the day of
, 2010.
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READ, APPROVED and ADOPTED on second reading this the
day of , 2010.
ATTEST:
SARA L. WHITE, City Secretary
)el -i .4., ------
ALAN MCGRAW, Mayor
City of Round Rock, Texas
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DATE: March 18, 2010
SUBJECT: City Council Meeting — March 25, 2010
ITEM: 9A1. Consider an ordinance amending Chapter 3, Section 3.1400, Code of
Ordinances, to establish definitions and use standards for Real Estate Marketing
signs and Pole Mounted Banners. (First Reading)
Department: Planning and Community Development
Staff Person: Jim Stendebach, Planning and Community Development Director
Joelle Jordan, Sr. Planner
Justification:
The purpose of this amendment to allow business uses to have a sign advertising space for sale or lease
that is proportional to the size of the development. Currently, a commercial property may only have a
for sale or lease sign less than 9 square feet in area, regardless of the size of the development. Existing
language from the temporary signs section concerning residential unit marketing and subdivision
marketing signs were also combined, so that all standards relating to real estate marketing appear in
one section of the sign ordinance.
In addition, the amendment includes new standards to regulate pole mounted banners on private
property. This amendment would allow six (6) square foot banners to be placed on fixtures that are
purposefully designed for light poles.
Strategic Plan Relevance:
Goal 4: Improve the aesthetics, development and redevelopment quality, and sustainability of the City.
Funding:
Cost: N/A
Source of funds: N/A
Outside Resources (if applicable):
N/A
Public Comment (if applicable):
N/A