§ 34-268. Status of existing off-premises signs; removal and amortization schedule; routine maintenance.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, all off-premises signs, including billboards and advertising structures, legally existing on September 25, 2014 shall be deemed to be nonconforming billboard signs and shall be removed or made to conform within ten years from the adoption date of this section September 25, 2014. Notwithstanding the above, billboards which are subject of a settlement of litigation between the village and billboard owner at the time of adoption of this section shall be removed or made to conform on the date as set forth in the approved settlement. Such nonconforming billboard signs shall not be rebuilt if they are destroyed or damaged, but may be maintained only through routine maintenance.

(a)

Routine maintenance, as it relates to any such existing nonconforming billboard sign, means:

(1)

Replacement of nuts and bolts, light bulbs or elements, nailing, riveting or welding, cleaning and painting, or manipulating to level or plumb the non-conforming billboard sign;

(2)

The routine change of the advertising message on the nonconforming billboard sign; and

(3)

The lamination or preparation of existing panels or existing facings at a location other than that of the nonconforming billboard sign.

(4)

Subject to compliance with Village Code and the village's issuance of a building permit: (a) Adding guys or struts for the stabilization of the legally nonconforming sign; (b) Replacement, as that term is strictly construed, of any pole or beam for the stabilization of the legally nonconforming sign and (c) other such maintenance activity, on the condition that (i) within any five year period, the total cumulative cost of the maintenance activity under this subsection does not exceed 50 percent of the replacement cost of the legally nonconforming billboard sign, as calculated herein and (ii) the maintenance activity does not constitute a change in the material of the replaced element of the nonconforming billboard sign or an enlargement, expansion, alteration, or other such substantial change to the legally nonconforming billboard sign including, though not exclusively, the relocation, reduction or expanded dimension of poles and beams. Each application for maintenance of a legally nonconforming billboard sign under subsection (a)(4), shall be accompanied by a signed and sealed engineer's certification of (i) the current actual market cost of labor and materials for new construction in the exact manner of the legally nonconforming billboard sign and structure and (ii) the current actual market cost of labor and materials for the maintenance activity. The certification shall itemize each element of cost and shall be subject to review and approval by the land development department director, or designee, who may request additional data and information, including a second engineer's certification, as reasonably required. The application shall also include a statement by the owner of the legally nonconforming billboard sign that the market value of the sign is at least the value of the engineer's estimate.

(Ord. No. 2014-21, § 3, 9-25-2014)