ORDINANCE NO. 749
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTIONS 28, 29, 30, 31 AND 32 OF ORDINANCE NO. 481, KNOWN AS THE BUILDING CODE AND CONCERNING SIGNS.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO:
Section 1. That Section 28 of Ordinance No. 481 shall be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 28. PERMITS AND LICENSES.
(a) It shall be unlawful to install any sign in any manner upon a premise, or attached to, or supported by any building, on the exterior thereof in the City of Grand Junction, except as herein provided, without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Building Inspector.
(b) Any person, firm or corporation offering his services as a painter of window signs, wall signs or similar signs shall pay a license fee of twenty-five (25) dollars for each year or portion thereof.
(c) Any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of, or desiring to engage in the business of installing signs on any building or buildings within the corporate limits of the City of Grand Junction, Colorado, shall first secure a license to conduct such business.
Before such license shall be granted, said person, firm or corporation shall pay the sum of $50.00, which shall be the annual fee for such license. Said person, firm or corporation shall also furnish a good and sufficient surety bond, to be approved by the City Council, in the sum of $2,000,00, conditioned upon the faithful performance of all things required of them under the provisions of the Ordinances of the City of Grand Junction, Colorado, and also conditioned upon the payment to said City, and to other person sustaining any damage, of the amount of any such damage sustained by the City or any other person, not exceeding the amount of said bond, on account of the failure of such licensee to properly build, construct or repair any sign within the City of Grand Junction. Said bond shall be approved and filed with the City Clerk before issuance of such license.
(d) A permit shall be required for the installation of any structural sign, the area of which computed by multiplying its greatest width by its greatest length, is greater than two square feet; but not for a sign that is painted directly upon the outside wall of any building (also see Sec. 32 (h); nor for the replacement of the removable display board or panel or other removable display surface of a sign having a stationary framework or structure so designed that a display board or panel or other display surface may be inserted therein or attached thereto or removed therefrom whenever desired without unfastening or removing said stationary framework or structure from its supports; nor for signs loosened from their supports, and taken down, painted and replaced without any change having been made in their size or form, provided such sign is in conformity with all other provisions of this Chapter.
(e) Signs one foot, or less in thickness and attached flat against the face of a building abutting on a street, alley or public property, or attached as close thereto as the construction or projections of the building will permit, shall not be held to project over such street, alley or public property, for the purposes of this ordinance, and shall not be subject to the regulations for signs projecting over a street, alley or public property.
(f) In case of barber poles, the lowest extremity shall be from forty-eight (48) to sixty (60) inches above sidewalk.
(g) Every person or persons, applying for a permit for the installation of a sign shall state the name of the owner of such sign, the location of the building on which it is to be installed, the size and cost of the proposed sign and the materials of which it is to be constructed and such other information in connection therewith as may be required by the Building Inspector, and, when required by the Building Inspector, shall file in his office, plans and specifications for such sign, which shall show the proposed design and construction of such sign and the manner in which it is to be attached to the building on which it is to be installed, and the nature and size of the materials to be used in such installation.
(h) In the case of each electric sign manufactured and wired outside of the City of Grand Junction, but to be installed within said City, no permit for the hanging of such sign shall be issued by the Building Inspector until a permit covering the wiring of such sign shall have first been secured from the office of the Electrical Inspector by a licensed electrician who thereby assumes all responsibility for bringing said wiring into conformity with the requirements of the ordinances of the City of Grand Junction; nor then until said wiring shall have been inspected and approved by the Electrical Inspector.
Section 2. That Section 29 of Ordinance No. 481 shall be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 29. WOOD SIGNS.
(a) Wood signs shall not be permitted except as ground signs. Maximum size of wood ground signs shall be four (4) square feet.
Section 3. That Section 30 of Ordinance No. 481 shall be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 30. GLASS SIGNS.
(a) No section of a glass sign, not deemed a marquee attached to the face of a building shall exceed eighteen (18) square feet of display surface, at any story, for any twenty-five (25) feet of frontage, of such building.
(b) No glass sign shall project more than eighteen (18) inches over public property unless it be an electric or illuminated sign.
(c) No glass sign, projecting over public property, shall exceed eighteen (18) square feet in area, measured on all the combined display faces of the sign, nor shall more than one such sign be attached to each face of a building for any occupant thereof.
(d) No glass box signs shall be permitted.
(e) The glass used in glass signs shall be either double strength or plate glass. If double strength is used, no pane shall exceed nine square feet in area, and if plate glass is used, no pane shall exceed twenty square feet in area. Glass signs shall be so constructed that each pane of glass is securely fastened to the body of the sign, independently of all other panes.
(f) Glass signs may be constructed of metal sashes or borders, but no such sash or border shall exceed four inches in width.
Section 4. That Section 31 of Ordinance No. 481 shall be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:
SECTION 31. ELECTRIC OR ILLUMINATED SIGNS.
(a) An electric or illuminated sign, within the meaning of this ordinance, shall be any sign, the letters or figures of which are outlined by incandescent electric lamps placed in grooves or channels, forming such letters or figures, or studded directly into the faces of such letters or figures, or on which the letters or figures are outlined by perforations, by Neon gas tubes, or transparent devices through which light from incandescent electric lamps is transmitted. Signs on which the letters or figures are painted, placed or raised, and illuminated by exterior lamps so placed as to reflect light onto said letters or figures in the above described manners, shall be electric or illuminated signs within the meaning of this ordinance, and shall be subject to the regulations hereinbefore provided for electric signs.
(b) Signs illuminated by electric lights, and the display faces of which are made of glass, shall be subject to the regulations hereinbefore provided for glass signs, and shall also conform to all requirements relating to the wiring of electric signs, as provided for in the ordinances of the City, pertaining to electric wiring.
(c) No section of an electric sign, attached to the face of a building shall exceed three hundred and fifty (350) square feet of display surface, for any twenty-five (25) feet of frontage for buildings up to thirty (30) feet in height and for each additional twelve (12) feet of height may add one hundred (100) square feet of display surface. Signs weighing 2000 pounds or more shall be designed by a licensed architect or structural engineer.
(d) No electric sign, attached substantially parallel to the face of a building and projecting over public property, shall exceed one hundred (100) square feet in area or project more than one foot over any public property; nor shall more than one such sign be attached to each story of a building for any occupant thereof, for any twenty-five feet of frontage.
(e) No electric sign, attached at any angle to the face of a building, shall project over public property more than eight feet, measured along the sign in the direction of projection; nor shall more than one such sign be attached to each face of a building unless in vertical line and not more than three signs in such manner for any one occupant thereof.
(f) For buildings having a height of not more than thirty (30) feet, the maximum display surface of any electric sign shall be three hundred and fifty (350) square feet. For each additional twelve (12) feet of building height, one hundred (100) square feet of display surface may be added to the maximum area of any electric sign.
(g) Before any electric sign is installed in place, or the wiring in the same concealed, the erector or manufacturer thereof shall notify the Electrical Inspector of the City of Grand Junction, who shall make, or have made, an inspection of such sign within forty-eight hours thereafter, and, if approved by said Inspector, said sign may then be installed in place. After such sign is erected or installed in place, the said Inspector shall again be notified that a final inspection and acceptance thereof is desired, and said Inspector shall make such inspection within forty-eight hours.
SECTION 32. MISCELLANEOUS REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Professional office may be identified by a wall or ground sign having a maximum area four square feet.
(b) No projecting sign, or any class hereinbefore referred to, mentioned or described in this ordinance, shall have a greater weight than two thousand pounds, except as provided in Section 31 (c).
(c) All signs referred to in this ordinance, attached to or placed on any building, shall be thoroughly secured thereto by iron or metal anchors, bolts, supports, chains, stranded cables, steel rods, or braces. No staples or lag screws shall be used for securing any projecting sign to any building. All projecting and roof signs shall be constructed and braced to withstand a horizontal wind pressure of at least thirty pounds for every square foot of surface exposed. Parapet wall of any building shall not be used for support of any projecting sign. The design and installation of every sign shall be structurally sound.
(d) No sign of any kind shall be attached to or placed upon any building in such a manner as to obstruct any fire escape or any window or door leading thereto, nor shall any sign be attached, in any form, shape or manner, to a fire escape.
(e) No sign, except as provided in Section 28 (f), projecting over public property, shall be so hung that the lowest point thereof will be less than twelve (12) feet above the level of the sidewalk, except such signs as do not exceed four square feet in area and do not project over public property more than eighteen inches, which signs shall be hung not less, at any point, than eight (8) feet above the level of the sidewalk, and excepting, also signs projecting over public driveways, which shall not be hung less than fourteen (14) feet above the level of such driveway.
(f) No sign erected before the passage of this ordinance shall be repaired, altered or moved, without being brought into compliance with the requirements of this ordinance.
(g) Cloth signs must be placed flat against building, for a period not to exceed thirty days.
(h) Wall signs more than forty-two (42) inches in height, shall be classified as outdoor bulletins. (See Ordinance No. 422.)
(i) (1) Signs advertising a specific product sold on the premises having a maximum area of fifteen (15) square feet may be attached to the rear wall of any building in zones of Business "A" and lower use classifications. (2) Similar flat signs may be erected on the front or side wall of a building in a Business "A" or lower use classification zone, provided the total number of signs of all descriptions on the front and side walls does not exceed three. (3) A permit for every such sign shall be secured from the Building Inspector before erection. The permit fee shall be one dollar ($1.00) for signs not larger than four square feet, and two dollars ($2.00) for signs greater than four square feet but less than fifteen square feet in area.
(j) Every sign hereafter erected and attached in any manner to a building shall be plainly marked with the name of the contractor erecting such sign, and the month and year of its erection.
Passed and adopted this 18th day of June, 1947.
/s/Porter Carson
President of the City Council
ATTEST:
/s/Helen C. Tomlinson
City Clerk
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance, being Ordinance No. 749 was introduced, read and ordered published by the City Council of the City of Grand Junction, Colorado, at a regular meeting of said body held on the 18th day of June, A. D. 1947, and that the same was published in The Daily Sentinel, a newspaper published and in general circulation in said City at least ten days before its final passage.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of said City, this 19th day of June, A. D. 1947.
/s/Helen C. Tomlinson
City Clerk