§ 7.02.00. Purpose and intent.  


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  • The purpose and intent of this article is to promote the public health, safety and general welfare through reasonable, consistent and non-discriminatory sign standards. The sign regulations in this article are also designed and intended to meet the statutory requirement that this municipality adopt land development regulations that regulate signage, a requirement set in F.S. § 163.3202(f). The sign regulations in this section are not intended to censor speech or regulate viewpoints, but instead are intended to address the secondary effects of signs that may adversely impact aesthetics and safety. The sign regulations are designed to serve substantial governmental interests and, in some cases, compelling governmental interests such as traffic safety and warning signs of threats to bodily injury or death.

    This article regulates signs, as defined in this article, which are placed on private property or on property owned by public agencies, including the town, and over which the town has zoning authority. This article is not intended to regulate objects that are not signs as defined in this article.

    The Town of Orange Park is located in northern Clay County, immediately south of the City of Jacksonville and west of the St. Johns River. The economic base of the town is heavily dependent on the preservation and promotion of quality, suburban-scale residential and strip commercial development. The town is largely built-out with nearly no large vacant tracts remaining; therefore, redevelopment which preserves and promotes the town as a desirable community in which to live and do business is of foremost importance. The regulation of signs within the town is a highly contributive means by which to achieve this desired end.

    By specifying criteria for all signage as stated herein, this article is intended to serve the following purposes:

    (a)

    Encourage the effective use of signs as a means of communication in the town;

    (b)

    Maintain and enhance the aesthetic environment and the town's ability to attract sources of economic development and growth;

    (c)

    Improve pedestrian and traffic safety;

    (d)

    Minimize the possible adverse effect of signs on nearby public and private property;

    (e)

    Foster the integration of signage with architectural and landscape designs;

    (f)

    Lessen the visual clutter that may otherwise be caused by the proliferation, improper placement, illumination, animation, excessive height, and excessive size (area) of signs which compete for the attention of pedestrian and vehicular traffic;

    (g)

    Allow signs that are compatible with their surroundings and aid orientation, while precluding the placement of signs that conceal or obstruct adjacent land uses or signs;

    (h)

    Encourage and allow signs that are appropriate to the zoning district in which they are located;

    (i)

    Establish sign size in relationship to the scale of the lot and building on which the sign is to be placed or to which it pertains;

    (j)

    Regulate signs in a manner so as to not interfere with, obstruct the vision of or distract motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians;

    (k)

    Ensure that signs are constructed, installed and maintained in a safe and satisfactory manner, and protect the public from unsafe signs;

    (l)

    Preserve, conserve, protect and enhance the aesthetic quality and scenic beauty of all districts of the town;

    (m)

    Allow for traffic control devices consistent with national standards and whose purpose is to promote highway safety and efficiency by providing for the orderly movement of road users on streets and highways, and that notify road users of regulations and provide warning and guidance needed for the safe, uniform and efficient operation of all elements of the traffic system;

    (n)

    Protect property values by precluding, to the maximum extent possible, sign types that create a nuisance to the occupancy or use of other properties as a result of their size, height, illumination, brightness, or movement;

    (o)

    Protect property values by ensuring that sign types, as well as the number of sighs, are in harmony with buildings, neighborhoods, and conforming signs in the area;

    (p)

    Regulate the appearance and design of signs in a manner that promotes and enhances the beautification of the town and that complements the natural surroundings in recognition of the town's reliance on its natural surroundings, beautification and redevelopment efforts in retaining economic advantage for its residential neighborhoods and commercial developments;

    (q)

    Enable the fair and consistent enforcement of these sign regulations;

    (r)

    Promote the use of signs that positively contribute to the aesthetics of the community, are appropriate in scale to the surrounding buildings and landscape, and advance the town's goals of quality development;

    (s)

    Provide standards regarding the non-communicative aspects of signs, which are consistent with city, county, state and federal law;

    (t)

    Provide flexibility and encourage variety in signage; and

    (u)

    Assure that the benefits derived from the expenditure of public funds for the improvement and beautification of streets, sidewalks, public parks, public rights-of-way, and other public places and spaces, are protected by exercising reasonable controls over the physical characteristics and structural design of signs.

(Ord. No. 01-18, § 1(Exh. A), 1-2-2018)