Not an official copy.

Island County, WA Ordinance No. 124-99

Signs and Lighting (The whole section was Revised and Re-Adopted by Ordinance C-124-99, 3/8/00)

1. Signage is recognized as a very important element of any Non-Residential Use or activity. Signage should be adapted to Island County's rural environment. In the Non-Residential Zones all new or replacement signage shall meet the following conditions unless it is a public Use Sign:

a) Signs shall be coordinated throughout a complex or project;

b) Each Sign shall be architecturally integrated with proposed Structures, considering form, color and building materials;

c) Signage shall utilize Channel Lighting technology, Box Signs, Lettering or Panel Signs indirectly lit from above;

d) When illuminated from above, the light source must be shielded to avoid spill-over of direct rays onto abutting properties and roadways, or into the night sky;

e) No more than one (1) freestanding identification Sign may be located on the main entrance to a complex or project and monument style signs are preferred over pole-mounted signs. Freestanding Signs up to eighteen (18) feet in height and monument signs up to ten (10) feet in height may be permitted.

f) Whether fixed or portable, flashing Signs, moving light Signs and off-premise Signs are prohibited (except time-temperature-date signs);

g) Attached Signs shall not exceed by more than four (4) feet the height of the Building or Structure to which they are attached; and

h) Total Signage shall not exceed one-hundred (100) square feet in area per business and of that amount, freestanding Signs shall not exceed forty (40) square feet in area per side.

i) Signs in windows such as logos, "Open", "Beer", etc. do not count toward the allowed sign area.

2. The purpose of this section is to prescribe standards for the location, design, color, illumination, height and size of all types of signs for NR Uses in the R, RR, RA, RF, CA, OH-R and UGA-L Zones in order to protect the unique natural beauty and rural character of the County, our primary assets. This section also intends to promote the following:

a) To encourage the effective use of signs as a means of communication for the convenience of the public by preventing their over concentration, improper placement and excessive size.

b) To maintain and enhance the aesthetic environment while promoting creativity and the County's ability to attract sources of economic development and growth.

c) To minimize the possible adverse effect of signs on nearby public and private property.

d) To protect and enhance the rural character of the County by requiring new and replacement signage which is;

(i) creative and distinctive;

(ii) compatible with its surroundings;

(iii) an integral component of the style and character of the building to which it relates;

(iv) appropriate to the type of activity to which it pertains;

(v) protects the view of the night sky ;

(vi) expressive of the identity of individual proprietors or of the community as a whole, and;

(vii) appropriately sized for its context.

e) To enable the fair and consistent enforcement of these sign restrictions.

f) To preserve and protect the public health, safety and general welfare.

g) General Standards For Signs:

(i) Only one (1) on-premise Sign not exceeding nine (9) square feet in area per side. Larger signs may be considered if architecturally integrated into and attached to the building. No sign may exceed eight (8) feet in height.

(ii) Architectural Compatibility. A sign (including its supporting structure and components, if any) shall be designed as an integral design element of a building's architecture, and shall be architecturally compatible, including color, with any building to which the sign is to be attached and with surrounding structures as determined by the Director.

(iii) Color. Sign colors shall be architecturally compatible. Sign colors shall provide sufficient contrast to be legible, yet be subdued enough to blend with the natural landscape and/or surrounding structures. The majority of the background area of a sign, exclusive of any letters, words or symbols, shall be of earth or dark color or made of materials such as rock, natural wood, old wood, tile, brick, etc. Bright or fluorescent colors and reflective surfaces in the background area of the sign are prohibited.

(iv) Component Painting. All light fixtures, conduit and shielding shall be painted to match either the building or the supporting structure that serves as the background of the sign.

(v) Lighting requirements.

(1) Externally lit signs shall be illuminated only with steady, stationary, shielded light sources directed solely downward onto the sign without causing glare. Light bulbs or lighting tubes used for illuminating a sign shall not be visible from adjacent public right-of-ways or residential properties.

(2) The intensity of sign lighting shall not exceed that necessary to illuminate and make legible a sign from the adjacent travel way or closest right-of-way; and the illumination of a sign shall not be obtrusive to the surrounding area.

(3) The fixtures used to illuminate signs shall not be directed toward nearby residential properties.

(4) Internally illuminated signs are prohibited.

(5) A sign may be illuminated during the hours of operation of the facility being identified or advertised or until 11:00 pm, whichever is later.

(6) Such signs shall provide an automatic timer to comply with the intent of this section.

3. General Standards for Maintenance, Sign Area, and Height Measurements in all Zones:

a) Maintenance. All signs shall be structurally sound and maintained in good repair. The display surfaces of all signs shall be kept neat at all times. Any sign determined to be a hazard to safety, health or public welfare by reason of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, or electrical shall be remedied immediately.

b) Measurement of Sign Area. The area of a sign shall be computed by measuring the copy as enclosed by the smallest square, triangle, rectangle or combination thereof. Any support structures, boarding trims and decorative embellishments will not be counted against total sign area as long as said support structures, boarding trims and decorative embellishments are appropriately scaled to the size of the copy as determined by the Director.

c) Measurement of Sign Height. The height of a sign shall mean the vertical distance from the average line of the highest point and the lowest point of finished grade adjacent to the base to the top of the highest attached component of the sign, exclusive of any filling, berming, mounding, landscaping, or excavating solely for the purpose of locating the sign.

d) The County may impose such reasonable conditions and standards as may be found necessary to ensure that signage and lighting is compatible with the character of surrounding permitted uses.

4. Outdoor Lighting Standards: The purpose of this section is to provide Outdoor Lighting Standards to help ensure compatibility with neighboring uses, preserve our dark skies, and provide a more pleasant and comfortable nighttime environment while preserving the ability to install effective security lighting. The following Outdoor Lighting Standards shall apply in all zones:

a) Lighting Standards.

(i) Lighting Fixtures must be a full cut-off design that is shielded, hooded and oriented towards the ground so that direct rays of lighting source(s) are not visible past the property boundaries and do not shine into the night sky; and

(ii) Use of motion sensing devises are encouraged; and

(iii) No lighting shall blink, flash or be of unusually high intensity or brightness; and

(iv) All lighting fixtures shall be appropriate in scale, intensity and height to the use they are serving.

(v) New or replacement lighting of County roads shall be shielded, downward pointing.

(vi) Exemptions:

(1) Lighting Fixtures utilizing only Fossil Fuels, including luminaria;

(2) Lighting Fixtures installed on Residential Structures with incandescent lamps, or equivalent. This exemption does not apply to fixtures that light parking areas, driveways, sports areas or outbuildings;

(3) Seasonal Decorative Lighting Fixtures;

(4) Lighting Fixtures used temporarily for emergency purposes.

(5) Public athletic fields, fairgrounds and approved temporary special events Lighting.

(6) Lighting fixtures 60 watts or less.

5. Existing Signs and Lighting:

a) All Existing Signage not complying with the provisions of this ordinance shall come into compliance when:

(i) The Sign is relocated; or

(ii) If more than 60% of the Sign is damaged, replaced or repaired; or

(iii) If the plastic panel of a Box Sign is no longer utilized any replacement panel facing shall utilize a solid dark colored background with light colored lettering.

b) Existing Lighting Fixtures installed prior to the effective date of this Chapter are exempt for a period of three years from the date of enactment of this Chapter, unless:

(i) The Fixture became inoperative except for bulb replacement; or

(ii) The Fixture can be retrofitted at the time of bulb replacement to come into compliance with this Code.