1. A-Frame Sign.A small portable freestanding sign.

2. Address Sign.Sign installed in compliance with Article 901.4.4 of the 1997 Uniform Fire Code.

3. Alteration.Any increase in sign area and/or height; change in illumination; or modification or replacement of sign face and/or sign structure.

4. Ancillary Information Signs.Small signs generally used in commercial business including, but not limited to, information regarding credit cards, property management, hours of operation, OPEN, etc.

5. Architectural Review Committee (ARC).The committee established in Section 2-5.00 et seq., and granted the responsibility to review sign applications, per this chapter.

6. Attention-Getting Device.Pennants, streamers, spinners, balloons, inflatable signs, search lights, beacons, flashing lights or messages and other similar attention-getting devices.

7. Awning Sign.A sign that is painted on, attached to, or applied directly to an awning.

8. Backlit Translucent Awning Sign.Any sign located on an awning that is translucent or semi-transparent and illuminated from a light source under or within the awning.

9. Banner Sign.A flexible sign of lightweight fabric or similar material typically supported at two (2) or more points and hung on a building or otherwise suspended down or across its face, or across a public right-of-way.

10. Building Face.A vertical planar wall surface including windows that is at least ten (10) feet in width and eight (8) feet in height and constitutes a distinct perimeter boundary of the building.

11. Building Frontage.The horizontal distance along a building face that is oriented in parallel to a public right-of-way or public walkway, not including the Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail. For purposes of this definition, a public walkway is a path leading to a business entrance.

12. City Planning Staff.As used in this chapter, the City Planning staff of the City of Monterey or a designee.

13. Commercial Directory Program.A coordinated system of signs installed in the public right-of-way and/or on private property that provide directional information regarding specific sites, institutions, and/or commercial businesses.

14. Construction Site Sign.A temporary sign located on a construction site that denotes or advertises the architect, builder, contractor, subcontractor, developer, funding source, etc., or describes the project.

15. Corner Sign.A sign that is installed on the corner of a building and is intended to be viewed from more than one (1) direction. Corner signs are generally oriented at an approximate forty-five (45) degree angle toward the intersection.

16. Directory Sign.A sign that is installed against an exterior building wall and provides a listing of the tenants inside of a multitenant building.

17. Electronic Sign.Any sign that conveys any message through the use of electronic display, light emitting diodes (LED), liquid crystal display (LCD), television or computer screen, or other electronic medium, including but not limited to OPEN, product listing, or similar signs in windows. This does not include neon signs.

18. Freestanding Sign.A sign that is installed apart from a building.

19. Government and Community Sign.Signs installed by the City of Monterey or other public agency or utility with the sole purpose of promoting public safety or well-being. This excludes signs denoting public facilities or garages.

20. Halo-Lit Sign.Any sign constructed in such a way that illumination is projected from directly behind the lettering, creating a continuous glow behind and around the letters. Also known as reverse channel letters.

21. Handheld Sign.A temporary sign displaying a noncommercial message (e.g., political, ideological, religious) that is held by a natural person.

22. Hanging Sign.A sign that is suspended in parallel to the building face, generally in front of a window, balcony opening, or other recess.

23. Height.The height of a sign is the vertical distance from the top of the sign to the grade directly below the sign. In cases of freestanding signs, height is the measurement to the lowest grade within six (6) linear feet of the base of the sign.

24. Highly Reflective and Fluorescent Sign.Signs made wholly or partially of highly reflective material and fluorescent or day-glow painted signs.

25. Illegal Sign.An illegal sign is any sign which does not meet the requirements of this code and is not a legal nonconforming sign.

26. Internally Illuminated Sign.Any sign constructed in such a way that illumination is wholly or partially achieved by projecting light through a transparent or semi-transparent solid surface.

27. Legal Nonconforming Sign.A sign that was lawfully installed with a sign permit but does not comply with the current sign standards.

28. Lot Frontage.The horizontal distance along a lot line adjacent to a public street.

29. Lux.The SI unit of illuminance and luminous emittance measuring luminous power per area. It is used in photometry as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the human eye, of light that hits or passes through a surface. One (1) lux is equal to one (1) lumen distributed over an area of one (1) square foot.

30. Monument Sign.A freestanding sign with a solid pedestal.

31. Multitenant Sign Program.A comprehensive design document that describes the allowed size, materials, and location of signs for each storefront and/or tenant in a multitenant building.

32. No Trespassing Sign.Trespassing warnings that are posted in compliance with the requirements of Federal, State and local laws.

33. Off-Site Sign.A sign advertising a business, product, or service not located on the same premises. This definition includes billboards.

34. Outdoor Display.A sign consisting of displayed merchandise, mannequins, or other objects or products displayed outdoors for the purpose of attracting attention to the premises or business.

35. Parking Lot Sign.A sign installed in parking lots that restricts the use of parking spaces for certain businesses, that states no parking, provides directional information to on-site motorists, or similar noncommercial message relating to parking lot management.

36. Personally Attended.Means that a person is at all times physically present within five (5) feet of a Temporary Sign displaying a noncommercial (e.g., political, ideological, religious) message.

37. Pole Sign.A sign with a minimum height of eight (8) feet, as measured to the top of the sign, that is installed atop a pole or other similar structure that is solely intended to elevate the sign to increase visibility.

38. Premises.A single lot of record and all of the buildings contained thereon. Adjoining lots of record under common ownership do not constitute a single premises but are considered individual premises.

39. Projecting Sign.A small sign that projects perpendicularly from the face of a building and generally overhangs a walkway.

40. Public Entrance.An exterior doorway providing access to the public during ordinary business hours.

41. Real Estate Sign.A sign indicating that the property on which the sign is located is for sale, rent, or lease and providing relevant contact information.

42. Roof Sign.A sign or any portion thereof erected or painted on or over the roof covering any portion of a building, and either supported on the roof or on an independent structural frame or sign tower, or located on the side or roof of a penthouse, roof tank, roof shed, elevator housing or other roof structure.

43. Sign.Any visual device or representation designed or used for the purpose of communicating a message or identifying or attracting attention to a premises, product, service, person, organization, business or event, with or without the use of words.

44. Sign Area.The area of a sign calculated by determining the number of square feet of the smallest rectangle(s) within which a sign face can be enclosed. In determining the area of an individual sign that has more than one (1) face (e.g., a freestanding or A-frame sign), the single sign face with the greatest area shall be used. Perfectly circular signs are measured by determining the circular area (A=πr²) of the sign face.

45. Sign Face.The sign face is any visible portion of a sign, including all characters, symbols, and structural or nonstructural background (e.g., cabinet frame or painted border), but not including the base of a freestanding sign.

46. Sign Height.The height of a sign is the vertical distance from the top of the sign to the grade directly below the sign including the support structure and any projecting design elements. For freestanding signs, sign height shall be measured to the lowest grade within six (6) horizontal feet of the base of the sign to account for any significant change in grade, retaining walls, mounded earth, etc.

47. Sign Permit.A written approval supported by appropriate findings issued by the City of Monterey authorizing display of a sign or signs, or of a multitenant sign program.

48. Storefront.A storefront is a distinct architectural unit within a building that contains a distinct public entrance accessible from a public sidewalk or private walkway. In cases where multiple tenants share a single public entrance, the entire area containing the entrance shall be considered a single storefront and sign area shall be permitted accordingly.

49. Street Identification Sign.A sign installed by the City of Monterey to identify a street.

50. Temporary Banner Sign.A banner sign that is displayed on a temporary basis.

51. Temporary Sign.A sign constructed of cloth, canvas, light fabric, cardboard, wallboard, poster board, or other light materials, with or without frames, and mounted in a nonpermanent manner, displaying a noncommercial message which remains in use not more than forty-seven (47) consecutive days. Temporary signs are not durable and therefore may not be used for more than forty-seven (47) days.

52. Traditional Public Forum.City-owned streets, City-owned parks, and sidewalks connected to the main pedestrian circulation system.

53. Traffic Control Sign.A sign installed in the public right-of-way with the sole purpose of controlling or directing traffic, or conveying traffic-related information to motorists.

54. Transit Sign.A sign identifying transit stops, facilities, times and bus routes.

55. Utility Sign.A sign temporarily placed by utility companies as part of the normal operation and maintenance of facilities such as public telephones and underground services.

56. Wall Sign.A sign that is painted, applied, projected, or attached directly to or within eight (8) inches of a vertical exterior wall of a building and is oriented in parallel to the building face.

57. Window Area.The product of the height and width of a window as measured to the interior finished structural members that support the installed windows. Window area shall not consider individual nonstructural window dividers or mullions.

58. Window Display.A window display is an arrangement of merchandise, including graphics and text, that is at least eighteen (18) inches in depth and is displayed in a building window. If a window display includes a sign greater than four (4) square feet located within eighteen (18) inches of the window surface, it is considered a sign.

59. Window Sign.A sign painted directly on a window, affixed to the inside of a window, or located inside facing a window and located within eighteen (18) inches of a window surface. (Ord. 3547 §§ 6, 7, 2016; Ord. 3506 § 9, 2014; Ord. 3475 § 2, 2012)