Section 4.36.180 Legal nonconforming signs.

The right to keep, own, maintain, or display any sign prohibited by the terms of this chapter as a legal non-conforming use shall cease and terminate in accordance with the following amortization schedule.

1. All temporary and portable signs expressly prohibited or not allowed in this chapter shall be brought into conformity or removed within ninety days of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

2. All obsolete and/or abandoned signs and their supporting structures shall be removed within one year of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. Any existing sign which becomes obsolete shall be removed within thirty days after it becomes obsolete.

3. All flashing, moving, rotating or animated parts of existing signs shall be brought into conformity or removed within ninety days of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

4. All other signs in violation of the terms and provisions of this chapter shall be brought into conformity or removed within ten years or earlier if damaged beyond fifty percent of fair market value and are subject to the following subsections of this section.

a. Repair, alterations. Any non-conforming sign may be maintained, repaired or altered; provided, however, that no such maintenance, repair or alteration shall either create any additional non-conformity or increase the degree of the existing non-conformity of all or any part of such sign.

b. Damage or destruction. In any event that any non-conforming sign is damaged or destroyed, by any means, to the extent of more than fifty percent of the fair market value of the sign at the time of such damage or destruction, such sign shall not be restored unless it shall thereafter conform to the regulations of this chapter.

c. Moving. No non-conforming sign shall be moved in whole or in part, for any distance whatsoever, to any other location on the same or any other lot unless the sign shall thereafter conform to the regulations of this chapter.

d. The ten year amortization provisions of this subsection shall not apply to signs referred to in subsections 4.36.150(7) and (8); and subsections 4.36.070(12) and (13).

5. The board of adjustment may stay any part of this amortization schedule for a period not to exceed six months, if the applicant for such a stay shall show a genuine and substantial attempt to comply with the provisions of this chapter.

6. Any person, firm or corporation owning or maintaining a non-conforming sign in a newly annexed area shall remove the same or bring the same into conformity with this chapter within a period equivalent to the time allowed by the amortization schedule after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter to bring comparable or similar nonconforming signs into conformity or to remove the sign, such time period to commence with the effective date of the annexation ordinance.

7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that signs which are non-conforming under the provisions of Chapter 25.98 of the municipal code shall become conforming nor the period of amortization of a non-conforming sign be extended beyond the expiration date as provided under said Chapter 25.98 unless specifically permitted by the provisions of this chapter.

8. Registration of Legal Nonconforming Signs. All legal non-conforming signs must be registered by June 1, 1986, at which time a ten-dollar fee will be assessed and a special permit will be issued. Thereafter, a registration fee of ten dollars is required on June 1st of each year. If the sign is not registered and fee paid within thirty days of June 1st of each year as prescribed herein, the sign will be subject to removal as per subsection 2 of this section.

9. I-29 Existing Signs. The signs along Interstate I-29 between U.S. Highway 20 and the Floyd Boulevard Exit are subject to an agreement between the city and existing sign companies dated December 21, 1992. (Ord. 96/U-4625; 96/U-4526; 86/T-4332; 84/T-2853)