HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-097ORDINANCE NO —
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 33 "SIGNS AND ADVERTISING DEVICES"
CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS BY REPEALING ARTICLE I,
SECTION 33-6 TO ABOLISH SIGN BOARD OF APPEALS, AMENDING CHAPTER 33
"SIGNS AND ADVERTISING DEVICES" BY ADDING NEW SECTION 33 6 PROVIDING
FOR THE APPEALS, VARIANCES AND SPECIALS EXCEPTIONS REGARDING
CHAPTER 33 BE HEARD BY THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT, AMENDING
CHAPTER 33 "SIGNS AND ADVERTISING DEVICES" CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY
OF DENTON, TEXAS BY AMENDING SECTIONS 33-49, 33-122 AND 33-125 BY
REPLACING SIGN BOARD OF APPEALS WITH BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT,
PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE,
PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, on November 20, 1990, the City of Denton adopted ordinance 90-182
creating the Sign Board of Appeals, and
WHEREAS, on January 26, 1999, the City Council, City of Denton recommended to
dissolve the Sign Board of Appeals and return the duties to the Zoning Board of Adjustment,
NOW, THEREFORE,
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS
SECTION I That Chapter 33, Code of Ordinances, City of Denton, Texas "Signs and
Advertising Devices" is hereby amended by repealing Article I, Section 33-6 in its entirety
ACTION II That Chapter 33, Code of Ordinances, City of Denton, Texas, is hereby
amended by adding Section 33-6 to read as follows
Sec. 33-6. Appeals, variances and special exceptions.
(a) The Board of Adjustment (board) is authorized to hear all appeals, variances, and
special exceptions in accordance with powers, rules and procedures applicable to
the Board of Adjustment in Chapter 35, "Zoning" Code of Ordinances, City of
Denton, Texas and Chapter 211 of the Texas Local Government Code
(b) The Board of Adjustment shall have the following duties
(1) To hear and decide an appeal that alleges error in an order, requirement,
decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the
enforcement of this chapter
(2) To hear and decide special exceptions to the terms of this chapter when
this chapter requires the board to do so
(3) To hear and decide on requests for variances in the regulations of this
chapter
(c) Appeals to the board
(1) Appeals may be brought by any person aggrieved by a decision or by any
officer, department, board, or bureau of the municipality affected by the
decision
(2) The appeals shall proceed and be governed as all other appeals to the
Board of Adjustment
(d) Variances to the sign regulations
(1) Any person requesting a variance from the provisions of the sign regulations
shall submit an application on a form provided by the city, containing the
information and plans requested in the application, along with the established
filing fee
(2) The board shall act upon the variance request within a reasonable time
Notice of the hearing shall be given in the same manner as appeals to the
board
(3) The board may grant a variance from a requirement of this chapter if its finds
all the following exist
a Due to some unique condition or feature of the property which is not
generally common to other properties, literal compliance with the sign
regulation would cause unnecessary hardship,
b The granting of the variance will not violate the spirit or the intent of the
ordinance, and
c The condition or feature which creates the need for the variance did not
result from the property owners' acts
(4) The board shall not grant a variance to any applicant solely for personal
convenience, financial hardship, or other reasons unrelated to the property If
the board grants a variance, the variance shall be granted only to the extent
that it is reasonably necessary to remedy the hardship The board may impose
conditions relating to the use of the sign for which a variance is granted
(5) All decisions of the board granting or refusing a variance shall be reduced to
writing and signed by the chairperson If a variance is denied, the decision
shall state the conditions for the variance which were not met If the board
grants a variance, the decision shall state that all conditions for a variance
were met, specify the degree to which the regulations are being vaned, and be
signed by the members voting in favor of the variance
(e) Special exceptions The board may grant a special exception from the provisions
of this chapter for the setback or height of sign, other than a portable sign, under
the following circumstances
(1) Visibility obstructions When fifty (50) percent or more of the effective
area of a sign to be located in accordance with the setback or height
requirements of this article would not be visible from at least one
"visibility point" because of an existing building, structure, or the natural
ground
As used herein, "visibility point" shall mean the viewing locations, at a
height of six (6) feet, determined by extending the side yard setback lines
of the property so as to intersect the curb line of the public street fronting
the property, then measuring from the intersecting points along the curb
line away from the property in each direction for a distance on one
hundred (100) feet If the street fronting the property is one-way, the
visibility point in the direction from which traffic approaches the property
shall be used to determine the visibility requirement (See Appendix
Illustration No 14d )
(2) Medical Emergency signs When signs located on the property of an
emergency medical treatment facility would not, because of the setback or
height requirements of this article, be readily visible from adjacent public
streets For purposes of this provision, "Emergency Medical Treatment
Facility" shall mean any hospital, clinic or other facility where medical aid
is offered to a person or animal which suffers an injury or illness that
requires immediate medical attention
In granting a special exception, the board shall specify by written order the setback or the height
that will be allowed, but in doing so shall not allow deviation from the provisions of this chapter
beyond what is minimally necessary to remedy the situation allowing for the special exception
(0 Judicial review of board decisions Appeals from any decision of the board under
this chapter may be made in accordance with the provisions applicable to all other appeals of the
board of adjustment
SECTION III That Section 33-49 of Chapter 33 of the Code of Ordinances of the City
of Denton is hereby amended to read as follows
Sec 33-49. Appeal of revocation.
Any aggrieved person may appeal a denial, proposed revocation, or revocation of a
license to the board of adjustment as provided herein
SECTION N That Section 33-122 of Chapter 33 of the Code of Ordinances of the City
of Denton is hereby amended to read as follows
Sec 33-122 Removal; appeals.
If the person ordered to correct a violation fails to do so within the time specified, the
building official may remove or cause the removal of the unlawful sign Any person aggrieved
by the order may file an appeal with the board of adjustment
SECTION V That Section 33-125 of Chapter 33 of the Code of Ordinances of the City
of Denton is hereby amended to read as follows
Sec 33-125. Appeal
Any aggrieved person may contest the reasonableness of the cost of removal of a sign
imposed hereunder by filing an appeal with the board of adjustment within twenty (20) days of
the mailing of the notice of the costs The board may uphold the cost imposed by the building
official or impose and levy whatever cost it considers reasonable Storage costs shall not be
appealable,
aECTION VI That this ordinance shall repeal every prior ordinance in conflict
herewith, but only insofar as the portion of such prior ordinance shall be in conflict, and as to all
other sections of the ordinance not in direct conflict herewith, this ordinance shall be and is
hereby made cumulative except as to such prior ordinances or portions thereof as are expressly
repealed hereby
SECTION VII That if any provisions of this ordinance or application thereof to any
person or circumstances is held invalid by any court, such holding shall not affect the validity of
the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas
hereby declares that it would have enacted the remaining portions despite any such invalidity
SECTION VIII That any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall, upon
conviction, be fined a sum not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2000 00) Each day that a
provision of this Ordinance is violated shall constitute a separate and distinct offense
aECTiON IX That this ordinance shall become effective fourteen (14) days from the
date of its passage, and the City Secretary is hereby directed to cause the caption of this
ordinance to be published twice in the Denton Record -Chronicle, the official newspaper of the
City of Denton, Texas within ten (10) days of the date of its passage
PASSED AND APPROVED this the day of 79 , 1999
JACK ER, MAYOR
ATTEST`
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
BY
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY
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