Article 5: Development Standards
Section 5.16. Signage
5.16.2. Applicability
Morrisville, NC
June 23, 2017
Unified Development Ordinance
Page 5-151
5.16.2.
Applicability
A.
General
Except as exempted in subsection
Bbelow, 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 Sectio
n 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.
C.
Signs Not Requiring a Sign Permit
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;
“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.