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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS-1210ORDINANCE NO. NS-1210 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA PERTAINING TO NONCONFORMING SIGNS, AMENDING SECTIONS 41-61g.13 AND 41-619.55 OF ?HE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE AND ADDING SECTIONS 41-619.14, 41-619.15, 41-619.16 AND 41-619.17 TO THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION l: That Section 41-619.13 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is ~-F~-~y amended to read as follows: Sec. 41-619.13. Amortized nonconforming sign - defined. As used in this chapter the term "amortized nonconforming sign" shall mean a sign which is at any time in conformity with the provisions of the "Sign Ordinance" of the City of Santa Ana (Sections 41-619 through 41-619.56) but which thereafter becomes nonconforming to such provisions and to which all of the following conditions apply: (a) the sign has been in existence for at least ten (10) years; (b) the sign has been nonconforming to the provisions of the "Sign Ordinance" of the City of Santa Ana for at least one (1) year; (c) at least one (1) year has elapsed from the effective date of this ordinance. SECTION 2: That the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended by adding sections to be numbered 41-619.14, 41-619.15, 41-619.16 and 41-619.17, which said sections read as follows: Sec. 41-619.14. Same - Termination of nonconforming use. Any amortized nonconforming sign, in the absence of a variance per- mitting its continued use, shall be made to conform or shall be removed within sixty (60) days of service of notice on the sign owner pursuant to section 41-619.15, except that in any case where application has been made for review by the Planning Commission pursuant to section 41-619.16 or for a variance, the period for such termination of the nonconforming use may be extended, if necessary, to a date thirty (30) days after the completion of administrative action on such application. Sec. 41-619.15. Same - Notice of nonconformity. (1) The Director of Planning shall serve or cause to be served a notice of nonconformity upon the owner of each amortized nonconforming sign and shall make the initial determination as to whether any sign is an amortized nonconforming sign. The notice shall contain the following items: (a) an identification of the sign including the street address of the property upon which the sign is located; (b) a statement that the sign fails to conform to the pro- visions of the "Sign Ordinance" of the City of Santa Aha, of the Santa Ana Municipal Code, including citation by code number of the sections which render the sign nonconforming; -1- ORDINANCE NO. NS-1210 PAGE TWO (c) a statement that the sign has been determined by the Director of Planning to be an amortized non- conforming sign as defined in section 41-619.13 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code; (d) a statement that, pursuant to section 41-619.14 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code, the sign must be either made to conform or be removed within sixty (60) days; (e) a statement that the sign owner is entitled to apply for a review of the Planning Director's determination or for a variance. (2) Any person, firm, association, or corporation that receives rent from the use of a sign or sign structure or that has the legal right to lease the use of a sign or sign structure or that has the legal right to physically alter or remove a sign or sign structure, shall be deemed an owner of such sign for purposes of this chapter. In the event that the Director of Planning is unable to determine which of more than one person, firm, association or corporation is the owner of an amortized nonconforming sign, he shall cause notice of nonconformity to be served on each such person, firm, association or corporation as he determines may be the owner thereof. (3) Service of notice of nonconformity shall be either by certified mail, in which case the date of service shall be the date of mailing, or by personal delivery by the Director of Planning or his authorized repre- sentative; except that, if the Director of Planning determines that both such means of service have not afforded or cannot reasonably be expected to afford actual notice to the owner, he may serve notice by affixing a copy of the notice of nonconformity to the sign or sign structure, in which case the date of service shall be the date upon which such notice is so affixed. Service upon an agent of the owner shall be deemed service upon the owner. Sec. 41-619.16. Same - Application for review. (l) Any sign owner who has been served with a notice of nonconformity may, within sixty (60) days of the date of service apply for a review by the Planning Commission of the determination by the Director of Planning that the sign is an amortized nonconforming sign as defined in section 41-619.13. The application shall be by written communication to the Director of Planning and shall set forth the grounds upon which the determination of the Director of Planning is contested and shall include copies or summaries of any evidence which the applicant proposes to submit to the Planning Commission. (2) Upon receipt of an application for review, the Director of Planning may rescind the notice of nonconformity if he determines that the sign is not an amortized nonconforming sign as defined in section 41-619.13. Otherwise, the Director of Planning shall set the application for review by the Planning Commission at a regular, special or an adjourned meeting of the Planning Commission which is to be held not less than seven (7) days nor more than forty-five (45) days after receipt of such application and shall, not less than five (5) days prior to the date set, notify the applicant of the time and place of such hearing. (3) The Planning Commission shall receive evidence only as to the question of whether the sign is an amortized nonconforming sign as defined in section 41-619.13, and shall either approve the determination of the Director of Planning or direct him to rescind the notice of nonconformity. The decision of the Planning Commission shall be final and conclusive. -2- ORDINANCE NO. NS-1210 PAGE THREE Sec. 41-619.17. Same - Provisions pertaining to variances. In any case where an application is submitted for a variance to maintain an amortized nonconforming sign, the provisions of Article V of this chapter shall apply, except that the provisions of this section shall be controlling to the extent they apply to any such application. (1) In any case where the requirements imposed in section 41-619.14 would operate to prevent the sign owner from recovering his investment costs in the sign from the income produced by the sign for the sign owner or for his predecessors in interest in the sign, a variance may be granted permitting the continued use of the sign for a period of time necessary to allow such recovery, subject to the provision of this section. (2) Any sign which has been fully depreciated for federal income tax purposes shall be conclusively presumed to have provided the sign owner with recovery of investment costs for purposes of paragraph (1) of this section. Any amortized nonconforming sign shall be presumed to have been fully depreciated for federal income tax purposes in the absence of evidence to the contrary submitted by the applicant at the time of application for a variance. (3) Investment costs shall include expenditures for construction, alteration, improvement, repair and maintenance of the sign which were incurred prior to the time the sign became nonconforming to the pro- visions of the Sign Ordinance of the City of Santa Ana and shall not include any such expenditures incurred thereafter. (4) Nothing herein shall preclude the applicant from receiving a variance pursuant to the standards set forth in section 41-638 of this chapter in addition to or in lieu of the grounds set forth in subsection (1) of this section. The application for a variance shall set forth the grounds upon which the variance is claimed. In any case where an application is submitted for a variance to maintain an amortized non- conforming sign, the application may be made by the sign owner and need not contain the signature or other authorization of the record owner of the property upon which the sign is located. (5) In granting a variance for the continued maintenance of an amortized nonconforming sign, the Planning Commission or, on appeal, the City Council may set a date for the expiration of the variance not to exceed ten (lO) years from the date of the grant, as part of the conditions for the grant, based upon a finding that the period of time for such continued maintenance is necessary and reasonable to allow the sign owner to recover investment costs or to substantially mitigate the hardship which would be imposed by denial of a variance. In the absence of any such express provision, any variance granted for an amortized nonconforming sign shall expire upon a date which is ten (lO) years from the date upon which the variance was granted. In any case where a variance granted to an amortized nonconforming sign has expired or is due to expire within a one (1) year period, the sign owner may apply for a new variance. SECTION 3: That Section 41-619.55 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 41-619.55. Location of off-premise advertising signs. (a) Off-premise advertising signs and sign structures are not permitted and shall not be constructed or maintained in any use district other than in the C 2, C 3, M 1 and M 2 -3- ORDINANCE NO. NS-1210 PAGE FOUR Districts with an approved conditional use permit. No off-premise advertising sign or sign structure shall be erected in the Civic Development zone as established in the official zoning map of the City of Santa Ana, nor in the Central Business District area as defined in this section after the effective date of this ordinance. (b) No new off-premise advertising sign or sign structure may be erected within five hundred feet (500') of an existing off-premise advertising sign fronting on the same side of the same street. (c) Off-premise advertising roof signs and sign structures are not permitted and shall not be constructed or maintained in the Civic Development zone as established in the official zoning map of the City of Santa Ana nor in the Central Business District area as defined in this section. (d) The "Central Business District" for the purposes of this section consists of all C 2 and C 3 zoned properties located in the area bounded on the north side of First Street, the south side of Tenth Street, the east side of Ross Street and the west side of French Street. SECTION 4: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, clauses, phrases or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 5: Neither the adoption of this ordinance nor the repeal hereby of any ordinance shall in any manner affect the prosecution for violation of ordinances, which violations were committed prior to the effective date hereof, nor be construed as affecting any of the pro- visions of such ordinances relating to the collection of any such license or penalty or the penal provisions applicable to any violation thereof, nor to affect the validity of any bond or case deposit in lieu thereof, required to be posted, filed or deposited pursuant to any ordinance, and all rights and obligations thereunder appertaining shall continue in full force and effect. SECTION 6: The Clerk of the Council shall certify to the passage of this ordinance and cause the same to be published in some daily newspaper printed and published in the City of Santa Ana. SECTION 7: This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days from and after the date of its adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Santa Ana at its adjourned regular meeting held on the gtb. day of September , 1974. ATTEST: CLERK OF THE COUNCIL -4- ORDINANCE NO. NS-1210 PAGE FIVE STATE OF CALIFORNIA) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) CITY OF SANTA ANA ) SS.: I, FLORENCE I. MALONE, do hereby certify that I am the Clerk of the Council of the City of Santa Ana; that the foregoing Or- dinance was introduced to said Council at its regular meeting held on the ~h day of i~,,_:M~y~ ~ , 1974, and was again considered by said Co~l at its adjourned regular meeting held on the 9th day of September , 1974, and was at said meeting passed and adopted by the following vote, to wit: AYES, NOES, ABSENT, ABSTAINED, COUNCILMEN: Griset, Ward, Patterson, Garthe COUNCILMEN: Evans, Yamamoto COUNCILMEN: None COUNCILMEN: Markel CLERK OF THE COUNCIL APPROVED AS TO FORM: