Grayson › Zoning Ordinance

Article 14 — Signs

current as of 2025-02-17verified current · checked 2026-08-24Officialofficial source ↗20 sections · full chapter

§ 1400

PURPOSE AND INTENT

The City of Grayson finds that signs are a proper use of private property, are a means of personal free expression and a necessary component of a commercial environment. As such, signs are entitled to the protection of the law. In the absence of regulation, however, the number of signs tends to proliferate, with property owners desiring ever increasing numbers and sizes of signs, leading to cluttered and aesthetically blighted thoroughfares. In addition, the competition among competing sign owners for visibility of their signs contributes to safety hazards for both vehicles and pedestrians.

Regulation of the size, height, number and spacing of signs is necessary to protect the public safety, to assure compatibility of signs with surrounding land uses, to enhance the business and economy of the City, to protect the public investment in the streets and highways, to maintain the tranquil environment of residential areas, to promote industry and commerce, to eliminate visual clutter and blight, to provide an aesthetically appealing environment, and to provide for the orderly and reasonable display of advertising for the benefit of all the City’s citizens.

The City finds that some signage has a single targeted function and that identification of such signage by description is impossible without referring to its function. For instance, address numerals are used for the sole purpose of locating addresses, which is of benefit to persons looking for those addresses and is essential to public safety personnel responding to emergencies.

Signs at the entrances to subdivisions or major developments favor a similar purpose in enabling both the traveling public and emergency personnel to quickly locate entrances for the purpose of either visitation or responding to emergency calls. While such signage is referenced based upon the function it serves within the context of this Ordinance, the provisions of this Ordinance are unrelated to the content of the speech provided and allow maximum expressive potential to sign owners.

The purposes of this Article are to encourage the effective use of signs as a means of communication within the City; to maintain and enhance the aesthetic environment and the City’s ability to attract sources of economic development and growth; to improve pedestrian and traffic safety; to minimize the possible adverse effect of signs on nearby public and private property; to enable the fair and consistent enforcement of this Article.

§ 1401

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Except as specifically excluded from the provisions of this Article, it shall be unlawful for any person to post, display, substantially change, or erect a sign without a permit. A change in the copy only of a sign shall not constitute a substantial change. Any sign which is moved, substantially destroyed, repaired or rebuilt by more than (50%) percent shall thereafter conform to the existing sign ordinance in effect.

§ 1402

PERMIT APPLICATION

Applications for sign permits required by this Article shall be filed by the sign owner or owner’s agent with the City Administrator or designee.

Said application shall describe and set forth the following, upon forms furnished by the City.

The application shall comply with and be processed in accordance with the provisions of this section.

A.The type and purpose of the sign as defined in this Article.

B.The cost of construction of the sign.

C.The street address of the property upon which subject sign is to be located and the proposed location of subject sign on subject property. In the absence of a street address, a method of location acceptable to the City Administrator which allows identification of the physical location of the sign shall be used.

D.The square foot area per sign and the aggregate square foot area if there is more than one sign face. Plans indicating the location of the sign on the property, the dimensions of the sign, including height, the mounting details and the building elevation. Plans of the sign executed to scale and a site plan to scale may be required by the City upon written notice to the applicant.

E.The name(s) and address(es) of the owner(s) of the real property upon which the subject sign is to be located.

F.Written consent of the property owner, or his agent, granting permission for the placement and/or maintenance of subject sign.

G.The name, address and phone number of the sign contractor.

H.Proof of payment of occupation tax for the current year by the sign owner and contractor, if appropriate.

Upon the receipt of a signed permit application containing all the information set forth above, the City Administrator or designee shall promptly conduct an investigation and review of the application, the proposed sign and the property described in the application. The City Administrator or designated representative shall grant or deny the sign permit within thirty (30) days from the date the completed application is submitted to the City of Grayson. Any application which has not been either granted or denied within thirty (30) days from the date the full completed application is submitted to the City of Grayson shall be deemed to have been granted.

If after review and investigation as required herein, it is determined that the application meets the requirements contained in this ordinance, the permit shall be issued. However, an inspection permit must be applied for with respect to all monument signs, wall signs, hanging signs and any sign being supplied with electricity.

If after review and investigation as required herein, it is determined that the application fails to meet the requirements contained in this ordinance, the permit shall be denied and the City Administrator, or designated representative shall provide the applicant with written notice of the denial and reasons for the denial. The written notice of denial shall be sent by certified mail to the designated address of the applicant on the application.

Any person denied a sign permit under the provisions of this section may file a written appeal of the denial, except as noted in Section 1414 hereof, to the Zoning Board of Appeals in accordance with the provisions of Article XVII of this Zoning Ordinance.

§ 1403

EXPIRATION DATE

A sign permit shall become null and void if the sign for which the permit was issued has not been completed within six (6) months after the date of issuance, provided, however, that a six (6) month extension of the permit shall be granted if an additional permit extension fee has been paid prior to the expiration date of the initial permit.

§ 1404

SIGN PERMIT FEES

No permit shall be issued until the appropriate application has been filed with the City Administrator or appropriate designee and fees have been paid as established by the City Council from time to time.

§ 1405

NON-CONFORMING SIGN

A.Any sign which does not conform to the requirements of this Article shall either be removed or shall be subject to Article VIII of the Zoning Ordinance.

B.No sign, whether conforming or non-conforming, shall be modified except in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

§ 1406

SIGNS AND SIGN DEVICES PROHIBITED

A.For aesthetic and safety reasons, the following types of signs or advertising devices are prohibited in all zoning districts of the City of Grayson.

1.Roof signs.

2.Streamers, air or gas-filled devices, searchlights, or feather/sail signs.

3.Portable, trailer, sidewalk, sandwich, curb, or “A”-type signs.

4.Multi-faced signs.

5.Animated signs, including but not limited to those involving motion, flashing, blinking, rotation or varying light intensity.

6.Any sign in which the point of source light element is visible except for indirectly illuminated ground signs.

7.Signs placed within public rights-of-way, except publicly owned, authorized or maintained signs which serve an official public purpose.

8.Signs erected by nailing, fastening or affixing the sign in any manner to any tree, rock, post, curb, utility pole, natural feature, official street sign or marker, traffic control sign or device, or other structure except as may be set forth herein.

9.Any sign placed or erected on property without the permission of the owner.

10.Weekend directional signs.

11.Individual or aggregate window signs exceeding 20% of the window area per building elevation.

12.Signs which contain words, pictures, or statements which are obscene, as defined by the Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 16-12-80.

13.Signs which simulate an official traffic control device, warning sign, or regulatory sign or which hide from view any traffic control device, signal or public service sign.

14.Signs which emit or utilize in any manner any sound capable of being detected on any traveled road or highway by a person with normal hearing abilities.

15.Signs which interfere with road or highway visibility or obstruct or otherwise interfere with the safe and orderly movement of traffic or which otherwise pose a hazard to traffic due to structural deficiencies in the structure of such signs.

16.Signs which obstruct any fire escape, any means of egress or ventilation or shall prevent free passage from one part of a roof to any other part thereof, as well as signs attached to any fire escape.

17.Signs which do not conform to applicable building and electrical codes.

18.Signs which are in violation of the rules and regulations of any zoning overlay district presently existing or as may later be enacted.

19.Signs located on any substandard lot created after the enactment of this ordinance, unless the substandard lot is created as the result of governmental action.

20.Abandoned signs. Signs (including sign structures) shall be deemed abandoned if the service or message to which it relates has been discontinued for ninety days.

21.Any sign that is structurally unsound, or is a hazard to traffic or pedestrians.

22.Dilapidated or neglected signs. A sign (including sign structure) will be deemed dilapidated or neglected if it does not present a neat and orderly appearance, which may be manifested by the following: rust or holes on or in the sign or sign structure, or broken, missing, loose or bent parts, faded or flaking paint, non-operative or partially non-operative illuminating or mechanical devices or missing letters in sign copy, or signs made of non-durable materials.

B.The City of Grayson shall be empowered to remove or cause to be removed at the owner’s expense all prohibited signs.

§ 1407

SPECIFIC PERMIT FOR TEMPORARY SIGNS OR DEVICES

A.Temporary signs, banners or similar devices shall be permitted only by issuance of a temporary sign permit allowing use of these types of signs for a period of 21 consecutive days. A temporary sign permit may not be issued to the same applicant/tenant more than once per calendar quarter. A fee as established from time to time by the City Council shall be charged for each such special permit. No more than one (1) such sign or device shall be permitted per lot of record at any one time, except as mentioned in Paragraph B of this Section. The permit may contain such restrictions as to size, height, and location as the City Administrator or designee deems appropriate to keep said temporary signs in compliance with the general restrictions and goals of this Article. Upon expiration of the temporary sign permit, the permittee shall remove the sign or banner including any temporary supporting structure.

B.Except as exempted under Section 1408, temporary signs shall be regulated as follows:

1.Each temporary sign shall not exceed 24 square feet.

2.Each temporary sign must be individually attached to a pole, mast, arm, or other structure, except as may be regulated in B.6.

3.For any lot, temporary signs shall be limited to one (1) temporary sign per public area frontage.

4.Temporary signs must be maintained in good condition.

5.In lots of record having only one (1) tenant and/or place of business, said tenant shall have the privilege of having a temporary sign as specified in Paragraph A of this Section and mounting said sign in permitted areas of the lot of record; however, any additional permitted temporary signs that are located proximate to the building shall not extend above the horizontal plane of the roof where the building wall and roof meet. No temporary sign shall extend more than eight (8) feet above grade when mounted to the ground. The term “proximate to the building” shall be deemed or closely adjacent to mean affixed to the building in a suitable manner.

6.In lots of record having more than one (1) tenant and/or place of business, only one (1)

temporary sign at a time may be mounted in areas of said lot of record which are not located proximate to the building, and any additional permitted temporary signs must be located proximate to the building shall not extend above the horizontal plane of the roof where the building wall and roof meet. No temporary sign shall extend more than eight

(8)feet above grade when mounted to the ground. The term “proximate to the building”

shall be deemed to mean affixed or closely adjacent to the building in a suitable manner.

§ 1408

SIGNS EXEMPT FROM SPECIFIED PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDINANCE

In all zoning classifications, the following signs may be erected without the requirement of a permit:

A.Signs containing a non-commercial message and not prohibited by Section 1406, provided that the signs shall not exceed forty-eight (48) inches in height and sixteen (16) square feet in size, and provided the sign has been erected with the permission of the property owner.

There shall not be erected on any property at the same time a compilation of signs that total a sign surface area of more than sixteen (16) square feet.

B.Signs located on property which is actively listed for sale or lease which are not prohibited by Section 1406, provided that the signs shall not exceed forty-eight (48) inches in height and sixteen (16) square feet in size, and provided the sign has been erected with the permission of the property owner. There shall not be erected on any property at the same time a compilation of signs that total a sign surface area of more than sixteen (16) square feet.

§ 1409

DIRECTIONAL SIGNS

Directional signs shall be permitted within any zoning district, provided they serve a temporary purpose, are maintained in an attractive and sound manner, and are removed at the owner’s expense. Directional signs are temporary and may be authorized for a period not to exceed twenty four (24) months. Directional signs shall be subject to the following requirements:

A.Shall not be located within 10 feet of the pavement of any street and shall not be permitted on any public right-of-way.

B.Shall not be illuminated.

C.Shall not be affixed in any manner to trees, street or light poles, utility poles, other signs or sign structures.

D.Shall be made of wood.

E.Shall include the name, address and phone number of the owner or party responsible for the removal and maintenance of the sign. This information must be written in weatherproof ink or paint on at least one face of the sign in letters not less than one-half inch in height.

F.Signs prohibited under this ordinance shall not be used as a directional sign.

G.Directional signs shall not exceed 24 square feet in total sign area per face and shall not exceed 8 feet in height excluding embellishments which shall not exceed 2 feet above the maximum height of the sign structure.

H.Directional signs shall be limited to 4 per intersection with no more than 1 per corner. No directional sign shall be permitted on a property with any other permitted sign.

I.Directional signs shall be located within 200 feet of an intersection but no closer than 20 feet from the intersection.

J.These signs require a permit.

§ 1410

MAINTENANCE AND APPEARANCE OF SIGNS

All signs shall be maintained in good condition, so as to present a neat and orderly appearance.

The City Administrator may cause to be removed after due notice any sign which shows gross neglect, becomes dilapidated, abandoned, or is subject to removal under any other provision of this Article or any other provision of this Zoning Ordinance.

A.The City Administrator shall give the owner ten (10) days to correct the deficiencies or to remove the sign or signs. This notice shall be in writing. This decision shall be subject to appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals in accordance with Article XVII of the Zoning Ordinance. If the Owner refuses to correct the deficiencies or remove the sign following a final decision on any appeal, the City Administrator shall have the sign removed at the expense of the Owner.

B.Any sign located in the public right of way in violation of this Ordinance may be removed immediately.

§ 1410.1

PERMITTED SIGNS THAT EXPIRE OR ARE ABANDONED

The City Administrator may cause to be removed any permitted sign when the permit expires or the business has closed or moved and the sign becomes abandoned.

A.The City Administrator shall give the property owner fifteen (15) days to remove the sign once the sign permit expires. If the property owner does not remove the sign, the City Administrator shall have the sign removed at the property owner’s expense.

B.Any business that relocates or closes shall remove their sign within thirty (30) days of the move or close of business. If the business does not remove the sign within the thirty (30) day period, the City Administrator shall notify the property owner. The property owner shall have an additional thirty (30) days from notification to remove the sign. If the property owner does not remove the sign, the City Administrator shall have the right to remove the sign at the property owner’s expense.

§ 1411

ILLUMINATION OF SIGNS

Only permanent signs, with the exception of window signs as specified in Section 1412, shall be allowed to be illuminated provided they meet the following conditions:

A.Ground-mounted and monument sign lights must be of a full cut-off type and be focused, directed and arranged so as to avoid the creation of a traffic or safety hazard, and to avoid creating a nuisance for the occupants of adjacent property. Said lights shall only be high pressured sodium, incandescent, quartz, metal halide or LED.

B.All signs which are internally illuminated must not have any of the point source of light element visible.

C.All lighting must be installed in accordance with all applicable building and electrical codes adopted and enforced by the City.

D.No permanent sign in the Uptown Center Overlay District shall be internally illuminated except for signs on parcels that also lie within the Grayson/Highway 20 Overlay District.

E.Signs located within any residential district may only be indirectly illuminated.

F.Internally backlit signs that shine on walls, may only be illuminated in white. No colored lighting is allowed.

G.All signs which are internally illuminated are limited to two colors of illumination plus white light.

§ 1411.1

WALL SIGNS

Except as otherwise provided in this Article, wall signs are allowed for each tenant within the following districts PUD, OI, M-1, C-1, C-2, and C-3, provided they meet the following conditions:

A.All wall signs must have a thickness that presents a multi-dimensional cabinet depth of no less than two (2) inches deep.

B.The face of all wall signs shall not be flat, and must be raised (in relief) above the background plane.

C.Wall signs may not project more than twelve (12) inches beyond the face of the building.

§ 1412

WINDOW SIGNS

Except as otherwise provided in this Article, window signs are allowed for each tenant within the following districts PUD, OI, M-1, C-1, C-2, and C-3. Window signage applied directly to the window shall be limited to painted, etched, posters, decal-type or direct adhesion graphics. No panels, boxes or other items mounted directly against the face of the window shall be allowed.

There shall be no background for window signage which obstructs view through the glass.

Opaque signage shall be limited to letter and/or graphics only.

The total square footage of all window signs shall not exceed 20 percent of the individual tenant’s total window area exposed to public view, subject to the following conditions:

A.No more than 6 windows shall be used to display window signs; and

B.If the business premise has 3 windows or less, no more than 2 windows shall be used to display window signs.

C.No more than 25 percent of an area of a window shall be used to display window signs, and no window sign shall extend from one window to another.

D.No more than 1 window sign per tenant public entrance may be internally illuminated, and that illuminated sign may be no more than 4.5 square feet in area.

E.Writing or graphics applied to the glass or window, such as by marker, paint or shoe polish, shall be treated as a temporary sign and shall follow the provisions as set forth in Section 1407.

F.No more than 1 illuminated sign per tenant public entrance shall be placed within 10 feet of any window.

§ 1413

DRIVE-THROUGH WINDOWS

Any parcel containing a restaurant where food is delivered at a drive thru delivery point other than the front side of the building is permitted one additional freestanding sign, subject to the following restrictions:

A.Only one sign serving the drive thru delivery system shall be permitted.

B.The sign is restricted to the side or rear yard of the restaurant.

C.No such sign shall exceed thirty (30) square feet in area or six (6) feet in height.

D.The sign must be within eighty (80) feet of the drive thru lane entrance.

E.Lettering on the sign must not be legible from any distance outside the property.

§ 1414

SIGNS PERMITTED AND REGULATED IN ZONING DISTRICTS

Any sign not specifically permitted in a zoning district as provided under this Section, shall be prohibited in that district, unless otherwise specifically provided for under this Article.

A.The following types of signs shall be permitted and regulated within the R-100, R-100 Modified, MH, RM, residential portion of a PUD or any other residential zoning district.

1.Only those signs as described in Section 1408(A).

B.Within the commercial zoning districts, signs shall be regulated as shown in Table 14.1

Table 14.1 – Signs within Commercial Districts:

Contiguous gross square footage of buildings on lot	Monument Signs Allowed	Maximum Monument Sign height	Maximum Monument Sign width	Monument Sign Size	Number of wall signs	Wall sign area per storefront/tenant
15,000 square feet and under	One per lot	10 feet	10 feet	75 s.f. for one sign	One per tenant/storefront per building elevation with exposure to road frontage, parking lot, or public space such as a courtyard*	37.5 square feet or 10% of the storefront/tenant elevation square footage, whichever is less
15,001 square feet to 50,000 square feet	One per road frontage	14 feet	14 feet	125 s.f. (one sign); 187.5 s.f. total area for all ground signs	One per storefront/tenant	37.5 square feet or 10% of the storefront/tenant front elevation square footage, whichever is less
50,001 square feet to 100,000 square feet	One per road frontage	14 feet	14 feet	150 s.f. (one sign); 225 s.f. total area for all ground signs	One per storefront/tenant	37.5 square feet or 10% of the storefront/tenant front elevation square footage, whichever is less
100,001 square feet or greater	One per road frontage	16 feet	16 feet	200 square feet (one sign); 300 s.f. total area for all ground signs	One per storefront/tenant	37.5 square feet or 10% of the tenant/storefront front elevation square footage, whichever is less
Note: See Section 1411.D. for commercial signs within the Uptown Center Overlay District. *One per tenant/storefront for freestanding buildings. One per tenant/storefront per building elevation with exposure to road frontage, parking lot, or public space such as a courtyard FOR SHOPPING CENTERS ONLY.

Reading grid · rebuilt for display · verify at source (p. 120) ↗

§ 1415

SETBACK REQUIREMENTS AND NUMBER ALLOWANCES OF SIGNS

PERMITTED AND REGULATED IN THE CITY

A.All signs must be located out of the right of way or at least ten (10) feet from the back of the curb or pavement of the adjacent street, whichever is greater. Signs located on a corner lot within fifty (50) feet of the intersection of right of ways must be out of the right of way or at least twenty (20) feet from the back of the curb or edge of the pavement of the adjacent streets, whichever is greater.

B.Except as provided in subsection C below and/or Table 14.1, each lot may contain only one authorized and permitted ground sign, monument sign or billboard. A lot containing a wall sign or signs may also contain either a ground sign, a monument sign or a billboard, if any such signs are authorized in that zoning district.

C.Lots with more than one road frontage may contain as many ground signs, monument signs, or billboards as the lot has road frontages if such signs are otherwise authorized in the zoning district. The total square footage of all signs shall not exceed one hundred and fifty percent (150%) of the maximum square footage for the largest allowed sign which would be authorized if only one road frontage existed on the lot. (For Uptown Center Overlay District requirements, refer to Section 1414.D.)

§ 1416

VARIANCE

The Zoning Board of Appeals cannot grant a variance as to illumination of any sign, or to vary the maximum size of a sign, or increase the size of a sign as stated in this Article.

§ 1417

ADMINISTRATION, ENFORCEMENT, INTERPRETATION AND

SEVERABILITY The provisions of this article shall be administered and enforced by the City Administrator or his or her designee. In interpreting the provisions of this article, nothing shall be construed to be intended to regulate the content of the message displayed on any sign. Designation of types of signs in any manner which may relate to the entity, organization, or person erecting the sign or to the information contained on the sign are merely instructional to assist in categorizing signs for size, height and location purposes and shall not be construed to prohibit any similar type of sign or to in any way restrict the content of the sign. All signs may display a non-commercial message in addition to or in lieu of any other message, and it is the intent of this article to regulate only the size, height and location of signs to accomplish the purposes set forth in Section 1400 of this article and in the preamble of this ordinance. In the event any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this article shall be declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional including, but not limited to, a declaration or adjudication that such section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of the ordinance relates to the content of any sign or in any way violates the constitutional provisions of free speech under the Georgia or United States Constitution, such adjudication shall in no manner effect the other sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases of this article, which shall remain in full force and effect as if the section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase so declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional were not originally a part thereof. The City Council hereby declares it would have adopted the remaining parts of the ordinance if it had known that such part or parts thereof would be declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional. The provisions of this article are declared severable to the maximum extent allowed by law and under no circumstances shall any sign regardless of content, purpose or location, be erected in the City of Grayson which exceeds the greatest height or size allowed for the largest sign authorized under the provisions of this article.