“A-frame sign” means a double-faced temporary sign composed of two sign boards attached at the top and separate at the bottom, not permanently attached to the ground.

“Abandoned sign" means a sign or sign structure where: (a) the sign is no longer used by the person who constructed the sign. Discontinuance of sign use may be shown by cessation of use of the property where the sign is located; (b) the sign has been damaged, and repairs and restoration are not started within 90 days of the date the sign was damaged, or are not diligently pursued, once started.

“Aggregate area” means the area of all signs combined.

“Alter” means to make a change to a sign or sign structure, including, but not limited to, changes in area, height, projection, illumination, shape, materials, placement and location on a site. Altering a sign does not include ordinary maintenance or repair, repainting an existing sign surface, including changes of message or image, or exchanging the display panels of a sign.

“Athletic scoreboard” means a sign erected next to an athletic field by the owner or operator of the field and which is visible to spectators.

“Attraction device” means any device, design, or symbol that is temporary in nature which is used primarily to attract attention. Banners, windsocks, posters, pennants, flags, ribbons, streamers, inflatable balloons drive by air blowers, and other similar devices are attraction devices.

“Awning” means a shelter projecting from and supported by the exterior wall of a building constructed of rigid or nonrigid materials on a supporting framework.

“Awning sign” means a sign attached to or incorporated into an awning.

“Banner” means any sign made of fabric or other nonrigid material intended to be hung either with or without frames.

“Beacon sign” means any light with one or more beams directed into the atmosphere or directed at one or more points not on the same lot as the light source; also, any light with one or more beams that rotate or move.

“Billboard” means a sign on which any sign face exceeds 200 square feet in area.

“Building front” means the lineal length of a building wall that faces a parking lot and has an entrance or exit open to the general public.

“Building official” means the city of North Bend building official or his or her designee.

“Business” means professions, trades, occupations, shops, and every kind of calling carried on for profit or livelihood.

“Canopy” means a permanent, freestanding, unenclosed, roofed structure.

“City” means the city of North Bend.

“City administrator” means the city of North Bend city administrator or his or her designee.

“City permit technician” means the city of North Bend permit technician or his or her designee.

“City planning director” means the city of North Bend planning director or his or her designee.

“Clearance” means the distance between the average grade below a sign to the lowermost portion of the sign.

“Commercial speech” means any sign wording, logo, or other representation advertising a business, profession, commodity, service, or entertainment for business purposes.

“Component” means, when used in describing a sign, any element of a sign or its source of support (excluding a building), including but not limited to support structure, accessories, wiring, or framing. Paint, vinyl, paper, fabric, lightbulbs, diodes, or plastic copy panels on a sign do not constitute components.

“Decoration” means something that adorns, enriches, or beautifies.

“Display sign” means a small sign either mounted on a building wall oriented to the height of pedestrians, or a freestanding sign oriented to occupants of a vehicle in a drive aisle.

“Double-faced sign” means a sign with sign copy on two faces, generally back to back or with an angle that does not exceed 45 degrees.

“Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof providing complete independent living facilities, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.

“Electronic display” means a display created by light emitting diodes, liquid crystal displays, plasma display panels, pixel or sub-pixel technology, or other similar technology.

“Electronic display sign” means a sign including, or comprised solely or partially of, an electronic display which can be changed by automatic means, including, but not limited to, the operation of computer software. Definition does not include readerboard signs.

“File” means to provide a copy of a document along with the appropriate fee to the city permit technician at city hall during working hours.

“Flag” means any fabric, bunting, or other lightweight material that is secured or mounted so as to allow movement caused by the atmosphere.

“Flashing” means, when used in describing a sign, the presence of an intermittent or flashing light source (whether on the face or externally mounted), or the presence of a light source which creates the illusion of intermittent or flashing light by means of animation.

“Freestanding sign” means a sign erected on a freestanding frame, mast, or pole supported in or on the ground and not attached to any building and where the base is not more than 75 percent of the sign width.

“Frontage” means all property abutting a public right-of-way or building frontage along a parking lot.

“Government sign” means a sign that is constructed, placed, or maintained by the federal, state, or local government for the purpose of carrying out an official duty or responsibility or a sign that is required to be constructed, placed, or maintained by a federal, state, or local government, or by order of a court either directly or to enforce a property owner’s rights.

“Grade” means, for freestanding signs, the average elevation of the finished surface of the ground within an area between the base of a structure and a point five feet from the structure. For wall signs, grade means the average elevation of the finished surface of the ground below the mounted sign measured five feet from each end of the sign. In case the structure is parallel to and within five feet of a public sidewalk, alley, or other public way the grade shall be the elevation of the public way measured at a point perpendicular from the center of the sign structure.

“Handheld sign” means a small hand-carried portable sign that is worn or carried by a person when being displayed.

“Height” means, for purposes of this chapter, the vertical distance measured from the highest point of the sign structure to the grade beneath the sign.

“Historical or landmark marker” means a sign constructed in close proximity to a historic place, object, building, or other landmark recognized by an official historical resources entity.

“Holiday lights or mini lights” means light fixtures that use bulbs that are sized C6, C7, or C9 or LED bulbs that are eight mm or smaller.

“Illuminated sign” means a sign illuminated by an internal light source or an external light source primarily designed to illuminate the sign. The illumination is “external” when the light source is separate from the sign surface and is directed to shine upon the sign and “internal” when the light source is contained within the sign, but does not include signs where the text or image is composed of dot matrix or LEDs. External illumination is “direct” when the source of light is directly seen by the public, such as a floodlight, and “indirect” when the source of light is not directly seen by the public, such as cove lighting.

“Incidental sign” means a sign in area of less than two square feet that is not legible to a person of ordinary eyesight with vision adequate to pass a state driver’s license exam standing at ground level at a location on the public right-of-way or other private property.

“Interior sign” means a sign located inside a building and not intended to attract the attention of a person on the outside to the site or to a business.

“LED” means a semiconductor diode that converts applied voltage to light and is used in electronic displays.

“Lot” means a parcel or tract of land.

“Maintenance” means normal care or servicing needed to keep a sign functional or perpetuate its use, such as cleaning, replacing, or repairing a part made unusable by ordinary wear, and changing light bulbs.

“Marquee” means a permanent roofed structure, other than a roof or canopy, attached to, supported by, and projecting from a building.

“Marquee sign” means any sign attached to a marquee.

“Monument sign” means a low-profile freestanding sign affixed to the ground where the base is at least 75 percent of the sign length and width.

“Mural” means any pictorial or graphic work of visual art which is applied directly to a structure with the permission of the owner.

“Nit” means a unit of luminance, or brightness, emitted from a luminous surface, equal to one candela per square meter, measured by pointing a nit gun directly at the rays of the source of illumination.

Nit Gun. See “photometer.”

“Noncommercial speech” means any message that is not commercial speech, which includes, but is not limited to, messages concerning political, religious, social, ideological, public service, and informational topics.

“Nonconforming sign” means a lawful existing sign at the time this chapter or any amendment thereto becomes effective which does not conform to the requirements of this chapter.

“Owner” means the person owning title to real property on which a sign is located, or the contract purchaser of the real property as shown on the last available complete assessment roll in the office of the county assessor. A person who has a continuing lease of the real property on which the sign is located is, also, an owner for purposes of this chapter.

“Permanent sign” means any sign constructed of durable materials and affixed, lettered, attached to or placed upon a fixed, nonmovable, nonportable supporting structure.

“Person” means every person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation.

“Photometer” means an instrument that measures light intensity in terms of luminance. A photometer is a nit gun.

“Portable sign” means a sign not permanently affixed, anchored, or secured to the ground or a structure on the lot it occupies, including trailer signs but excluding signs affixed to or painted on a vehicle.

“Projecting sign” means a sign other than a wall-mounted sign which projects from and is supported by a wall or roof of a building or structure.

“Public right-of-way” means, for purposes of this chapter, travel area dedicated, deeded, or under control of a public agency, including, but not limited to, highways, public streets, alleys, bike paths, and sidewalks.

“Public sign” means a sign erected, constructed, or placed within the public right-of-way or on public property by or with the approval of the governmental agency having authority over, control of, or ownership of the right-of-way or public property.

“Readerboard sign” means a permanent sign with letters and/or advertising providing information in a horizontal linear format that can be readily changed manually, through placement of letters or symbols on tracks mounted on a panel.

“Repair” means mending or replacing broken or worn parts with comparable materials.

“Roof line” means the top edge of a roof or a building parapet, whichever is higher, excluding any cupolas, chimneys, or other minor projections.

“Roof sign” means a sign erected or painted upon, against, or over the roof of a building or structure.

“Rope light” means a light that has holiday lights or mini lights inside of a PVC tube.

“Seasonal decorations” means every type of decoration displayed on a seasonal basis.

“Service drive sign” means a sign erected at a driveway entering a street from a drive-in business establishment or from an off-street parking area, excluding residential driveways serving fewer than five dwelling units. See NBCC 18.68.060(1)(e).

“Setback” means, for the purposes of this chapter, the horizontal distance from the property line to a sign, measured at the closest points of the sign to the property line.

“Sign” means a display, illustration, structure, or device of any kind that has a visual display visible from a public right-of-way and is designed to identify, announce, direct, or inform. The scope of the term “sign” does not depend on the content of the message or image being conveyed.

“Sign area” means an area measured within lines drawn between the outermost points of a sign but excluding essential sign structures, foundations, or supports lying outside and below the limits of a sign and not forming an integral part of the display.

“Sign band” means a continuous horizontal band located on a facade where there are no doors, windows, or other architectural features.

“Sign copy” means the message or image conveyed by a sign.

“Sign face” means the area of a sign on which sign copy is displayed.

“Sign height” means the vertical distance measured from the grade below a sign to the highest attached component of a sign including the supporting structure.

“Sign structure” means the entire structure that comprises the sign, including, but not limited to, the display surface, supports, foundation, and sign tower.

“Sign tower” means a semi-detached structure, not integral to the building and erected for the purpose of signage.

“Single-faced sign” means a sign with sign copy on only one side.

“Site” means the land owned by or under the lawful control of an owner. For purposes of this chapter, individual abutting tax lots held in the same ownership shall be considered separate sites.

“Site sign” means a temporary sign constructed of paper, vinyl, plastic, wood, metal, or other comparable material that is located on a vacant lot or on a lot under construction.

“Street” means the entire width between the right-of-way lines of every way which provides for public use for the purpose of vehicular and pedestrian traffic and including the terms road, highway, lane, place, avenue, alley or other similar designations.

“Street frontage” means the linear length of a site, measured along a line separating the site from a street or public right-of-way.

“String light” means a lighting fixture that is composed of electrical wiring encased in plastic with sockets for bulb placement.

“Structure” means that which is built or constructed. An edifice or building of any kind or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner and which requires location on the ground or which is attached to something having a location on the ground.

“Subdivision” means either an act of subdividing land or an area or tract of land subdivided into four or more lots.

“Supporting structure” means a structure specifically intended for supporting or containing a sign.

“Temporary sign” means a sign which, based upon its materials, location, and/or means of construction (e.g., light fabric, cardboard, wallboard, plywood, paper, or other light materials), with or without a frame, is intended or designed to be displayed for a limited period of time.

“Traffic control device” means a device designed to redirect traffic away from property and pedestrians such as road signs, traffic signals, road markings, and traffic bollards.

“Trailer sign” means a sign placed on or affixed to a trailer or other portable device that may be pulled by a vehicle that is not being used for purposes other than the display of signs.

“Unlawful sign” means a sign that does not conform to the provisions of this chapter and is not a legal nonconforming sign.

“Vehicle sign” means a sign painted on, placed in, or affixed to a vehicle that is used for either a personal purpose or is regularly used for purposes other than the display of signs.

“Video sign” means an electronic display sign providing information in a format that uses continuous motion.

“Vision clearance area” means a triangular area on a lot at the intersection of two streets or a street and a railroad, two sides of which are lot lines measured from the corner intersection of the lot lines for a distance specified in these regulations. The third side of the triangle is a line across the corner of the lot joining the ends of the other two sides. Where the lot lines at intersections have rounded corners, the lot lines will be extended in a straight line to a point of intersection. The vision clearance area contains no plantings, walls, structures, or temporary or permanent obstructions exceeding three and one-half feet in height measured from the top of the curb. See NBCC 18.72.090.

“Wall sign” means a sign affixed directly to or painted or otherwise inscribed on an exterior wall and confined to the limits thereof.

“Window sign” means any sign attached to or painted or otherwise inscribed on, or displayed inside a building within 12 inches of a window, with the primary purpose of being viewed from the exterior of the building.

“Yard sign” means a temporary freestanding sign constructed of paper, vinyl, plastic, wood, metal, or other comparable material that is supported by a frame, pole, or other structure placed directly in or upon the ground without other support or anchor on a lot with one or more existing permanent structures. (Ord. 2061 § 1, 2022)