§ 7.106. Billboards.

A.

Billboards are permitted only in the M-1 and M-2 zoning districts.

B.

No billboard shall be erected within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the planned or existing freeway, expressway, parkway, right-of-way, or planned corridor, as officially designated by the Arizona Department of Transportation or the City of Glendale.

C.

No new billboards may be constructed within the city unless the person desiring to construct such a billboard submits evidence to the City that the person has removed an existing billboard. If evidence is submitted that a billboard has been removed after the effective date of this ordinance, the City shall issue building and sign permits for one (1) new billboard not to exceed the area of the sign which was removed or three hundred (300) square feet, whichever is less. However, if a person submits evidence that in excess of three hundred (300) square feet of billboard area has been removed, by the removal of four (4) or more billboards with an area of seventy-five (75) square feet or less, the City shall issue building permits for one (1) new billboard with a maximum area of three hundred (300) square feet. Any new billboard shall be erected, constructed, or placed within six (6) months after removal of the billboard(s) it is replacing.

D.

All billboards erected, placed, or altered within the city shall comply with the following requirements:

1.

The space between the newly erected, placed, constructed, or altered billboard and any existing billboard shall not be less than six hundred (600) feet.

2.

All billboards shall have landscaping around the base at a rate of fifteen (15) square feet per linear foot of sign.

3.

Off-site improvements or appropriate financial assurance as approved by the City shall be required along any abutting street for the full frontage of the property where the billboard is to be located.

4.

No part of such sign structures shall be erected closer to a street than the front line of the nearest building which is within one hundred (100) feet of the sign and which fronts on that street; provided, however, that when a sign is erected between two (2) buildings which both front on the same street and which are both within one hundred (100) feet of the sign, then the sign shall not be erected closer to that street than a line drawn from the nearest front corner of each building.

If no building is located within one hundred (100) feet of the off-premise sign, the sign structure shall be set back in accordance with the setback requirements of the zoning district in which located, but shall not be less than ten (10) feet behind a front property line.

5.

Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, no billboards shall be erected, placed, constructed, or altered within the city which have an area exceeding three hundred (300) square feet or a height exceeding twenty-five (25) feet.

6.

The billboard's structure, not including the sign copy, shall be compatible with the color, reflectivity, and other qualities of its surrounding environment.

7.

No billboard shall have more than one (1) support column.

8.

Access ladders to maintenance platforms shall be constructed or maintained in such a position as not to project beyond a visual envelope established by structural elements or projections of the sign face and trim to the ground as viewed from a place parallel to the face of the sign.

9.

Other than support columns, maintenance walkways, embellishments, ends, cross bracings, tops or bottoms, parallel or v-shaped signs, no back braces, torque arms, stringers, panel attachments, or similar structural elements or accessories shall be exposed. If such elements or accessories are not covered by a sign face, screening of such elements or accessories shall be colored similarly to the remaining portions of the sign back.

(Ord. No. 1772, 6-23-93; Ord. No. 2805, § 2, 6-26-12)