§ 501.140. Approval Process., Chapter 501. Sign Code, Building and Construction, Code of Ordinances, Blue Springs

Application Required. No sign or sign structure shall be altered, displayed or changed, including a change of copy, color or sign face, until the appropriate fee is paid to the City and a sign permit is issued by the City unless the sign is specifically exempt from a permit requirement pursuant to Section 501.070. Normal maintenance shall not be included in this requirement. A sign erected, altered, displayed or changed without a permit shall be considered an illegal sign and shall be subject to the penalties described in this Sign Code.

Form. Applications for sign permits shall be made upon forms provided by the Department of Community Development.

Complete Application. Within ten (10) business days of the submission of an application for a sign permit, the Director of Community Development shall determine whether the application is complete and in compliance with the requirements of this Sign Code. Complete applications shall be processed in accordance with this Section of the Sign Code. The Director of Community Development will attempt to provide the applicant of an incomplete application with a written description of the application's deficiencies within the ten (10) day review period. The Director of Community Development shall not process incomplete applications.

Information Required For Standard And Alternative Sign Permit Applications. Both standard and alternative sign permit applications shall include the information specified on the application form. At a minimum, this shall include:

Scale drawings showing elevations of the proposed sign, relationship to buildings and other signs, and location of the foundation or post hole location in relation to the property line and public right-of-way;

Sign legend or commercial message, lettering or font style, and colors;

Construction specifications;

Electrical components and wiring;

Method of attachment and design of structured members to which attachment is to be made;

Location of foundation or post hole location in relation to the property line and public right-of-way;

Name, address, telephone number and signature of property owner granting permission for the construction, operation, maintenance or display of sign structure;

Name, address, telephone number, occupational license number and signature of sign contractor, if applicable;

Legal description and street address of premises or property upon which sign is to be located;

10.

Use of property, lot, building or structure for which sign will provide information or advertising;

11.

Approximate value of the sign to be installed, including the cost of installation; and

12.

Other information, as may be reasonably required by the City Administrator or Director of Community Development.

Information Required For Limited Sign Permit Applications. A limited sign permit application shall include the sign size and all reasonable measurements, location, materials and time duration, along with such information as is deemed necessary by the Director of Community Development.

Oversight Committees. Applications for sign permits in or immediately adjacent to identified special districts with independent oversight committees (Historic Preservation, Central Business District, Adams Dairy Parkway) shall be reviewed as provided in this Sign Code with additional review and recommendation made by the appropriate committee based upon the policies and regulations adopted by the committee.

Review And Action.

Upon the submission of a complete application, the Director of Community Development shall process the application within forty-five (45) days according to one (1) of the following procedures: standard, alternative or limited. Standard or limited sign permit applications that are not processed by the Director of Community Development within forty-five (45) days shall be deemed denied and may be appealed to the Planning Commission.

The Director of Community Development shall schedule alternative and specified standard sign permit applications [see Subsection (G)(4) below] with the Planning Commission for consideration at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission pursuant to the Planning Commission calendar.

Any application not acted upon by the Planning Commission within forty-five (45) days of the first meeting at which the Planning Commission received the application (or at which the application or appeal was placed on the agenda) shall be deemed denied and may be appealed to the City Council.

The Director of Community Development shall:

Standard Application.

(1)

Obtain recommendation of oversight committee where applicable.

(2)

If the application is seeking Master Sign Plan approval or submitted with a development application subject to Planning Commission review, the Director of Community Development shall review and make a recommendation to the Planning Commission.

(3)

If Section (G)(4)(a)(2) above is not applicable, the Director of Community Development shall:

(a)

Approve the application if it is in compliance (complies with all terms and specifications) with the requirements of this Sign Code and other applicable City regulations; or

(b)

Deny the application if it fails to comply in any manner with the requirements of this Sign Code or other applicable City regulation.

Alternative Application.

(1)

Obtain recommendation of oversight committee where applicable.

(2)

Review the application to determine general compliance with the terms of this Sign Code and the approval criteria specified in Section 501.140(H).

(3)

Schedule the application for review and action by the Planning Commission.

Limited Sign Permit Application. Limited sign permit applications shall be checked for conformance with the Sign Code and may be approved by the Director of Community Development for a specified period of time.

Application Denial. If an application is denied (either by the Director of Community Development for a Standard or Limited Sign Permit, or by the Planning Commission for an Alternative Sign Permit or certain Standard Sign Permit), the Director of Community Development shall provide the applicant with a written notice of the denial within five (5) business days of the denial.

Criteria For Approval.

Standard And Limited Applications.

Submission of a complete application.

Compliance with the terms of this Sign Code.

Compliance with Adams Dairy Parkway Corridor requirements [Section 501.140(I)(3) below] for property located within the district.

Alternative Application.

Submission of a complete application.

General compliance with the general intent and purpose of this Sign Code.

The design and location of the sign would not interfere with pedestrian or vehicular safety.

The sign would not be located so as to have a negative impact on adjacent property.

The sign would not add to an over- proliferation of signs on a property or cause needless repetition or redundancy of signage.

The sign utilizes and/or enhances the architectural elements of the building.

The image presented by the sign is of high quality and is consistent or compatible with the surrounding area as a whole.

Special Criteria For Certain Districts — Alternative Sign Permit Application Process And All Signs In Adams Dairy Parkway Corridor. Three (3) corridors or districts are identified in Table 2, Permitted Signs by Use. They each represent areas of distinctive or unique character within the City of Blue Springs. Applicants for sign approval within these corridors may use the Alternative Sign Permit application process to propose sign approvals that would be inappropriate due to size or design elsewhere in the City. Questions regarding additional constraints should be directed to the Department of Community Development. The three (3) signage corridors are:

Interstate 70.

The Interstate 70 corridor is defined as land abutting Interstate 70 or within one hundred (100) feet of its frontage road right-of-way. High speed and high volume automobile traffic characterize Interstate 70. It may be important, therefore, for signage to be seen from a relatively long distance and at high speeds.

Applicants that demonstrate need based on their specific land use and site visibility may be granted a sign through the alternative application process that exceeds the height limitation and mounting characteristics defined in this Sign Code (such as a pole sign). No sign may exceed thirty-five (35) feet in height.

Central Business District.

The Central Business District is defined by the boundaries: 7 Highway to 15th Street; Vesper Street to Walnut Street. It is a pedestrian oriented district that is characterized by many buildings that have no front property line setback. It is equally important which signage be viewed by pedestrians as well as by motorists.

Applicants may be granted latitude in signage design under the alternative application process for setback allowances, overhang dimensions, marquee signs and other signage characteristics that contribute to the pedestrian or urban nature of this district.

Adams Dairy Parkway.

The Adams Dairy Parkway corridor includes those properties within the Adams Dairy Parkway Overlay District (ADP-O) identified in Section 404.200 of the Unified Development Code, and such properties as may be added to that District from time to time. Authorized signs include those that are compatible with their surroundings, are appropriate to the activity that displays them, are expressive of the identity of individual activities and the corridor as a whole, and are legible in circumstances in which they are seen.

In addition to the general signage requirements contained within this Sign Code, the following shall apply within the Adams Dairy Parkway corridor:

(1)

Height. No multi-tenant signs shall exceed a height based on a rate of one (1) foot of height per one (1) foot of distance from any right-of-way line, up to a maximum of twenty (20) feet in height for signs visible from I-70, a maximum of fifteen (15) feet in height for signs visible from Adams Dairy Parkway, and a maximum of ten (10) feet in height for signs visible from other streets or public rights-of-way.

(2)

Freestanding Business Signs. Signs for individual freestanding office, flex tech, industrial or commercial buildings will be permitted when no multi-tenant sign can be obtained. No lot may have both a multi-tenant sign and a separate freestanding business sign.

(3)

Prohibited Signs. Portable signs or signs in excess of two hundred (200) square feet in area shall be prohibited in the Adams Dairy Parkway corridor.

(4)

Signage Area. Signage area in the Adams Dairy Parkway corridor shall be governed by the following standards:

Type Of Roadway (Lanes)	Posted Speed (mph)	Maximum Sign Area Commercial/ Industrial Surroundings (square feet)	Maximum Sign Area Institutional/ Residential Surroundings (square feet)
2	Up to 40 Over 40	35 75	20 50
4	Up to 40 Over 40	50 100	35 80
I-70	50 — 55+	200	150

Editor's Note: Table 2, Permitted Signs By Use, is included as an attachment to this Chapter.

Appeals.

Any final determination, including an application that has been deemed denied by reason of the passage of time, made by the Director of Community Development may be appealed to the Planning Commission by filing a written notice of appeal with the Director of Community Development within ten (10) days of the determination.

The Director of Community Development shall transmit to the Planning Commission all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed was taken.

The Director of Community Development shall schedule the appeal or application at the next regular meeting of the Planning Commission following the first regular meeting after the determination.

The Planning Commission shall have forty-five (45) days from the date said matter is first scheduled for its meeting in which to act on the application or appeal, after which it shall be deemed denied.

Appeal may be taken by the applicant, any owner of land directly affected by the determination, any person determined by the Planning Commission to be actually or potentially aggrieved by the determination, or any person otherwise given the right of appeal by law.

Any final determination, including an application or appeal that has been deemed denied by reason of passage of time, made by the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council by filing a written notice of appeal with the Director of Community Development within ten (10) days of the Planning Commission determination.

Appeal may be taken by the applicant, the Director of Community Development, any owner of land directly affected by the action or proposed action, any person that the City Council determines to be actually or potentially aggrieved by the appealed action, or any person otherwise given the right of appeal by law.

Appeal shall be made on the record. The applicant shall have the full right to be represented by counsel at the appeal hearing and may produce witnesses and evidence on their behalf.

The City Council shall consider the appealed determination as a new matter and, within sixty (60) days of the date that the appeal was filed, shall act to approve, approve with modifications, or deny the original application based on the criteria established in Section 501.140(H) of the Sign Code. Failure to act shall be deemed a denial.

Any final determination of the City Council may be appealed to the Circuit Court.

Inspections And Certificates Of Compliance.

The Director of Community Development shall cause an inspection of the lot for which each permit for a new sign or modification of an existing sign is issued within six (6) months after issuance of a permit. If the construction is complete and in full compliance with the sign permit application, the Director of Community Development shall approve the permit by signing off on it and sending a copy to the applicant.

If the construction is not in full compliance with this Sign Code, the Director of Community Development shall give the property owner or tenant notice of the deficiencies and shall allow an additional thirty (30) days from the date of inspection for the deficiencies to be corrected.

If the deficiencies are not corrected by the date identified by the Director of Community Development, the sign permit shall lapse and the sign shall be removed immediately.

If the construction is in full compliance and the deficiencies are corrected, the Director of Community Development shall approve the permit by signing off on it and sending a copy to the applicant.

Suspension/Revocation. The Director of Community Development may, in writing, suspend or revoke a permit issued pursuant to this Sign Code where the permit is issued on the basis of a material omission or misstatement of fact.

Expiration.

It is unlawful to maintain a sign or sign structure without a validly issued sign permit unless the sign is specifically exempt from a permit requirement pursuant to Section 501.070.

Issued permits shall expire and become void if the work authorized by the permit is not completed within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of permit issuance, or if the work is abandoned (as evidenced by appearance of abandonment and not intent of the applicant) for a period of thirty (30) days or more at any time after the work is commenced. Before such work can be commenced or resumed thereafter, a new permit shall be obtained and a fee of one-half (1/2) the amount required for a new permit shall be paid to the City, provided no changes have been made in the original plans and specifications, and further provided that the permit issuance date has not exceeded one (1) year.

A sign permit shall lapse and be of no further effect if the business activity on the premises, or business to which the sign permit is related, is discontinued for a period of ninety (90) days.