Morrisville Unified Development Ordinance - October 2019

Article 5: Development Standards Section 5.16. Signage 5.16.2. Applicability

5.16.2. Applicability

A. General

Except as exempted in subsection B below, no sign shall be erected, installed, constructed, altered, or moved except in accordance with the standards in this section.

B. Exemptions

The following signs are exempt from the signage regulations of this Ordinance:

Town, county, state, and federal traffic signs;

Historical markers, monuments, or signs erected by public authority;

Official notices or advertisements posted or displayed by or under the direction of any court official in the performance of his/her official or directed duties, or by trustees under deeds of trust or other similar instruments;

Signs denoting the location of underground utilities;

Signs approved by the Town Council for posting in association with municipal, county, state, or federal authorities for crime prevention and public safety and health;

Temporary signs advertising Town-sponsored events;

Warning signage affixed to tree protection fencing;

Flags or emblems of any political unit, government, civic, educational, or religious organization (though not regulated as signs, such flags are subject to the standards for accessory flags and flagpoles in Section 4.3.5.B.13, Flagpole and Flag); Political signs placed within the right-of-way of the State highway system subject to requirements and standards in Section 136-32 of the North Carolina General Statutes; and Signs denoting a product being sold out of a vending machine or self-service container that distributes the product by depositing money into the machine or container, or depositing such money with an attendant. The following signs are subject to this Ordinance’s signage standards, but are exempt from the requirement for a Sign Permit: A single non-illuminated temporary sign advertising the sale or lease of a dwelling on the same parcel, in residential districts only; Private unofficial traffic signs indicating directions, entrances, exits, or menu boards, provided any such sign does not exceed 12 square feet in area;

C. Signs Not Requiring a Sign Permit

“Now hiring” signs, provided that any such sign does not exceed 12 square feet in area;

Temporary string lighting and displays as part of customary holiday decorations and civic events, provided that:

a. The string lighting and displays are not placed in any right-of-way;

b. The string lighting and displays are removed once the applicable customary holiday or civic event period ends; c. Temporary string lighting is only affixed to buildings and landscaping, and does not blink, strobe, or flash; and d. The string lighting and displays are not displayed for a period of more than 45 days per customary holiday or civic event.

October 1, 2019

Morrisville, NC

Page 5-160

Unified Development Ordinance