1999-097 O ANCENO
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 Cay of Denton adopted ordmance 90-182
creating the S~gn Board of Appeals, and
WHEREAS, on January 26, 1999, the C~ty Council, C~ty of Denton recommended to
dissolve the S~gn Board of Appeals and return the duties to the Zomng Board of AdJustment,
NOW, THEREFORE,
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS
~ That Chapter 33, Code of Ordinances, City of Denton, Texas "Signs and
Advertising Devices" is hereby amended by repealing Artmle I, Section 33-6 m its entirety
~ That Chapter 33, Code of Ordinances, City of Denton, Texas, is hereby
amended by addmg Section 33-6 to read as follows
Sec. 33-6. Appeals, variances and specmi exceptions.
(a) The Board of Adjustment (board) is authorized to hear all appeals, variances, and
specml exceptions m 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 demde an appeal that alleges error in an order, reqmrement,
decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the
enforcement of th~s chapter
(2) To hear and demde specml exceptmns to the terms of this chapter when
this chapter requires the board to do so
(3) To hear and dec,de on requests for variances in the regulations of this
chapter
(e) 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, conttumng the
~nformation and plans requested In the application, along w~th the established
filing fee
(2) The board shall act upon the variance request within a reasonable time
Notice of the heanng shall be given in the same manner as appeals to the
board
(3) The board may grant a variance from a requirement of th~s 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, hteral comphance with the s~gn
regulation would cause unnecessary hardship,
b The granting of the variance will not violate the spirit or the ~ntent of the
ordinance, and
c The condition or feature which creates the need for the variance d~d 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 ~t 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 chmrperson If a variance ~s denied, the decision
shall state the conditions for the vanance wluch were not met If the board
grants a variance, the decision shall state that all conditions for a vanance
were met, specify the degree to which the regulations are being vaned, and be
signed by the members voting m 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 s~gn, other than a portable sign, under
the followmg circumstances
(1) VlSlblhty 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 ex~stlng building, structure, or the natural
ground
As used herein, "vlsabahty 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 hne of the public street fronting
the property, then measunng from the intersecting points along the curb
lane 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
VlSlblhty point an the darectmn from which traffic approaches the property
shall be used to determine the visibility requirement (See Appendix
Illustratmn No 14d)
(2) Medical Emergency signs When signs located on the property of an
emergency medmal treatment facility would not, because of the setback or
height requirements of this article, be readily visible from adjacent pubhc
streets For purposes of this provision, "Emergency Medical Treatment
Facility" shall mean any hospital, chine or other facility where medical md
as offered to a person or animal whmh 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 wall be allowed, but m doing so shall not allow deviation from the prowslons of thru chapter
beyond what is minimally necessary to remedy the situation allowing for the special exception
(f) Judicial review of board decisions Appeals from any decision of the board under
this chapter may be made an accordance with the provisions applicable to all other appeals of the
board of adjustment
~,uQT. LO._~ That Section 33-49 of Chapter 33 of the Code of Ordmances of the City
of Denton is hereby amended to read as follows
See 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
~ That Section 33-122 of Chapter 33 of the Code of Ordinances of the City
of Denton xs 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 tame 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
~ 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 w~th the board of adjustment within twenty (20) days of
the mmhng of the notice of the costs The board may uphold the cost imposed by the bmldmg
official or impose and levy whatever cost it considers reasonable Storage costs shall not be
appealable,
EC IS._~.T.!_Q.~T_~ That this ordinance shall repeal every prior ordinance ~n 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 m darect conflict herewith, this ordinance shall be and ~s
hereby made cumulative except as to such prior ordinances or portions thereof as are expressly
repealed hereby
~ That ~f any provisions of this ordinance or application thereof to any
person or circumstances ~s held ~nvahd by any court, such holding shall not affect the validity of
the remammg portions of this ordinance, and the City Cotmcll of the City of Denton, Texas
hereby declares that It would have enacted the remmnmg portions despite any such lnvahd~ty
~ That any person violating any prows~on of this ordinance shall, upon
conviction, be fined a sum not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2000 00) Each day that a
prows~on of this Ordinance is wolated shall constitute a separate and distract offense
~ That this orchnance 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 twine in the Denton Record-Chromcle, the officml newspaper of the
City of Denton, Texas within ten (10) days of the date of Its passage
PASSED AND APPROVED this the O7~9/ day of ~~.~, 1999
JACK~fl~I~ER, MAYOR
ATTEST~
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY
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