§ 611. Outdoor Advertising Signs.

611.1.   Allowed Outdoor Advertising Signs.

All outdoor advertisement shall be in compliance with the provisions of F.S. ch. 479, and Chapter 14-10, Florida Administrative Code, as amended. Outdoor Advertising Signs are permitted on undeveloped or vacant parcels in the GC, HC, CRV, LM, HM, PDC, PDI, PDRV, PDUI and PDPM districts, except as provided in Section 611.2, subject to the restrictions elsewhere in this Chapter, the applicable state statute and the following:

A.

Location and Dimensional Standards.  

1.

Maximum height: Forty (40) feet above grade;

2.

Maximum length: Forty (40) feet;

3.

Minimum spacing between: Two thousand (2,000) feet same side of road;

4.

Minimum sign area: Two hundred (200) square feet per face;

5.

Maximum sign area: Two hundred (200) square feet per face; and

6.

Maximum faces per side: One (1) face per side.

B.

Setbacks. In addition to other restrictions, all outdoor advertising signs must meet all required district building setbacks, minimum fifteen (15) feet. All such signs shall be located no closer than twenty (20) feet to any building or structure.

C.

Separation. No outdoor advertising sign shall be erected closer than three hundred (300) feet to any church, school, cemetery, public park, public playground, major thoroughfares, historic sites, landmarks or residential zoning districts, state or national forest.

D.

Prohibited Types of Outdoor Advertising Signs. Three-prisms, three-dimensional, scrolling, and rotating signs are not allowed.

E.

Nonconforming Outdoor Advertising Signs. Nonconforming outdoor advertising signs shall not be moved, altered, enlarged, or reconstructed without complying with this Code.

F.

Permit. No outdoor advertising sign shall be erected without a sign permit from Manatee County and the Florida Department of Transportation.

G.

Off-Site Advertising Sign-Free Areas. The following thoroughfares shall be sign-free areas from which no off-site advertising sign shall be visible. Off-site directional signs are permitted in these areas.

1.

U.S. 19, South from Hillsborough County line to the Palmetto City limits.

2.

S.R. 64, East from the Bradenton City limits to S.R. 675.

3.

26th St. W., South from the Bradenton City limits to Sarasota Bay.

4.

Manatee Ave. W. (S.R. 64), West from the Bradenton City limits (34th St. W.) to Holmes Beach City limits.

5.

DeSoto Memorial Hwy. (75th St. W.), North from Manatee Ave. W. to the Manatee River.

6.

Palma Sola Blvd., South from Manatee Ave. to Cortez Rd.

7.

Palmetto Business 41, South from U.S. 41 to the Palmetto City limits.

8.

U.S. 301 East from 24th Ave. East in Ellenton to S.R. 675 and from the Sarasota County line north to the intersection with U.S. 41.

9.

Cortez Rd., East from Bradenton Beach City limits to 14th St. W.

10.

U.S. 41, South from 30th Ave. to Cortez Rd., then West along Cortez Rd. to 14th St. W., then South to the Sarasota County line.

11.

53rd Ave., from new U.S. 301 West to 75th St. W.

12.

S.R. 70, from old U.S. 301 East to S.R. 675.

13.

Moccasin Wallow Road, East from U.S. 41 to U.S. 301.

14.

University Parkway, East from U.S. 301 to western line of S31-T35-R19.

15.

Entranceways, see Section 900.

16.

Interstates, I-275 from the Skyway Bridge to the intersection with I-75; I-75 from the northern County line of Manatee County to the southern County line.

17.

15th Street East, from U.S. 301 and University Parkway to the Bradenton City limits.

18.

301 Boulevard East, North from 15th Street East to Bradenton City limits.

611.2.   Billboard Signs Exchange Program.

A.

Purpose. The purpose of this Section is to provide standards and restrictions for the exchange of signs previously approved as message center signs for electronic billboard signs to promote the visual aesthetics of the County and safety of vehicular travel. These standards and restrictions maintain, support and protect the aesthetic character of the County by providing for the removal of certain message center signs; as well as protect the safety of the motoring public, by limiting the location of and specifications for electronic billboard signs and generally further the public interests of the citizens of Manatee County.

B.

Applicability. This Section shall be applicable to real property located within the Entranceway adjacent to I-75 which previously received Preliminary Site Plan approval for an on-site, freestanding message center sign in excess of four hundred (400) square feet on property zoned Planned Development-Mixed Use (PDMU) and located within the Mixed Use (MU) Future Land Use Classification prior to January 1, 2012.

C.

Definitions.  

Dwell Time is the minimum duration of a single display on an electronic billboard sign. During the dwell time, the message display shall be static, and there shall not be any change of color; flash, fade, rotation, twinkle, twirl, scroll, show of action or motion, or illusion of action or motion.

Electronic Billboard Sign. For purposes of this Section, electronic billboard sign is defined as a billboard sign that incorporates within or upon one or more of its sign faces digital or other electronic changeable message technology that allows advertising copy to be changed remotely rather than by changing the advertising copy on site with poster sheets or vinyl.

Message Sequencing means dividing a single thought or message into two (2) or more successive sign displays on a single electronic billboard sign. For example, it shall be considered message sequencing if the second display answers a textual question posed in the first display, continues or completes a sentence started on the first display, or continues or completes a story line started on the prior display.

D.

Upgrade to Electronic Billboard Sign. An on-site sign previously approved as a freestanding message center sign may be upgraded to an electronic billboard sign upon processing an application for a Preliminary Site Plan approval to be heard by the Board of County Commissioners. A sign permit is also required in accordance with this code. A Preliminary Site Plan approval and the Sign permit is only valid for the specific location for which it has been issued. A Preliminary Site Plan approval and sign permit may not be transferred from one location to another. For each electronic billboard sign for which approval is sought, the sign owner must submit an application demonstrating that each of the following conditions of approval have been met:

E.

Exchange Rate.  

1.

A minimum of eight (8) sign faces of static outdoor advertising signs must be permanently removed in exchange for each single sign face on an electronic billboard sign (electronic billboard sign face). In addition, the combined square footage of sign face area removed shall total at least four (4) times the square footage of electronic billboard sign face for which approval is sought.

2.

Notwithstanding, the foregoing subsection 1 above, as an alternative to the exchange rate described above, a sign owner may permanently remove one (1) electronic billboard sign face in exchange for a new electronic billboard sign face and another location for which a sign permit is sought.

3.

Removal of the freestanding message center sign referred to in subparagraph D of this Section, if constructed, must occur prior to the effective date of this Section in order to count for purposes of exchange of the exchange rate in this Section.

F.

Locational and Dimensional Standards.  

1.

Each single sign face of the electronic billboard shall not exceed seven hundred (700) square feet.

2.

The parcel upon which the electronic billboard sign is located shall not be within a historic view protection area.

3.

The parcel upon which the electronic billboard sign is located must be adjacent to I-75 with the electronic billboard sign being orientated towards and viewable from I-75.

4.

The maximum height of the electronic billboard sign shall be sixty-five (65) feet.

5.

No electronic billboard sign shall be located within four hundred (400) feet of any residentially zoned property or within four hundred (400) feet of any property with an existing legal residential land use. The distance shall be calculated as the shortest measurable distance between the nearest point of the electronic billboard sign to the edge of the residential district or residential property.

6.

Spacing. Electronic billboard signs shall be spaced a minimum of two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet from another electronic billboard sign which is facing in the same direction on the same roadway.

G.

Lighting Control and Mitigation. Lighting from the electronic billboard sign shall not result in a light intensity greater than 3/10 of one (0.3) footcandle above ambient lighting, as measured at the property line of any residential property within two hundred (200) feet of the base of the sign structure. At the time of sign permit application, the sign owner applying for the sign permit for the electronic billboard sign shall submit a certification to the designated office of the County that this standard has been satisfied.

H.

Operational Standards.  

1.

The dwell time, defined as the interval of change between each individual message, shall be consistent with rules promulgated by the Florida Department of Transportation but in no event less than eight (8) seconds. Any change of message shall be completed in one (1) second. The dwell time shall not include the time required to change a message. There shall be no special effects or other content between messages.

2.

The message shall be static during the dwell time set forth in subsection H.1 above. There shall be no flashing or varying light intensity of movement during the message. Messages shall not scroll and shall not give any appearance of moving or in any way include active movement.

3.

Messaging sequencing on an electronic billboard sign is prohibited.

4.

Each electronic billboard sign's operating system shall contain a light sensing device to adjust brightness as ambient light conditions change in order to insure that the message meets the following brightness standards. The maximum brightness shall be 0.3 footcandles above the ambient light measured two hundred fifty (250) feet perpendicular from the face of the sign.

5.

No electronic billboard sign shall display light of such intensity that it interferes with the effectiveness of an official traffic sign, signal or device.

6.

The electronic billboard sign shall have a default mechanism or setting that will cause the sign to turn off or freeze in one (1) position at a brightness no brighter than normal operation if a malfunction or failure (meaning any unintended interruption in message sequencing) occurs.

7.

The electronic billboard sign shall not be configured to resemble a warning or danger signal nor shall there be any configuration which may cause a driver to mistake the sign for a warning or a danger sign. The sign shall not resemble or simulate any lights or official signage used to control traffic.

8.

All electronic billboard signs shall be in compliance with the provisions of F.S. ch. 479, as amended and Chapter 14-10, Florida Administrative Code, as amended.