§ 62-3306. Permits generally.

(a)

Required permits and approvals; building permit. Except as provided in section 62-3307, exemptions from permit requirement, no person, property owner, or sign contractor shall erect, construct, locate, make structural repairs or maintain or permit to be erected, constructed, located, structurally repaired or maintained any sign on property located within the unincorporated area of the county, without prior issuance of a building or electrical permit by the county.

(b)

Transfer. Permits issued under this article may be transferred from one owner of the property or sign to another, but may not be transferred from one location or property to another.

(c)

Applications for required permits shall be approved or denied with written cause within 15 business days of submittal. The 15 business day period shall run from the date the applicant certifies in writing that the application is complete. In the event more information is required from the applicant to complete review of the application, the 15 business day period shall run from the receipt of the additional information. In the event the applicant has not been notified that the application has been denied upon the expiration of the 15 business day period, the permit shall be automatically issued and forwarded to the applicant.

(d)

Digital billboards may be permitted at existing off-premise sign structures, in non-residential zoning districts subject to the following requirements:

1.

The county shall only approve and issue permits for digital billboards that upgrade existing nonconforming billboards in instances where the county has made a legal settlement or agreed to do so in the course of condemnation and/or eminent domain proceedings. Otherwise, the general nonconforming provisions of this section shall apply.

2.

Operational limitations. Digital billboards shall contain static messages only and shall not have movement or the appearance or optical illusion of movement of any part of the sign structure, design, or pictorial segment of the sign. Each static message shall not include movement or the appearance of movement or the flashing, scintillating or the varying of light intensity.

3.

Minimum display time. Each message on the sign must be displayed for a minimum of six seconds.

4.

Digital billboard illumination shall be exempt from the requirements of section 62-2257.

5.

Each display shall have a light sensing device with dimming ability that will adjust the brightness of the billboard as ambient lighting conditions change. Light intensity will be adjusted so as not to exceed 0.3 foot candles above ambient lighting, as measured using a foot-candle meter at a present distance. The pre-set distance to measure the foot-candle impacts vary with the expected viewing distances and the face size of each sign noted below. Measurement shall be performed perpendicular from the sign face and at the distances stated for each face size:

Face Size	Distance
12'×25'	150'
10'6"×36'	200'
14'×48'	250'

 

6.

Notwithstanding the nonconforming status of an off-premise sign, where a settlement agreement has been reached in the course of condemnation and/or eminent domain proceedings, an existing off-premise sign structure may be permitted by the commission to be upgraded to a steel monopole type construction that will sufficiently handle the weight and load of a digital billboard and meet the requirements of the building code. Any such upgrade shall not violate any law of the State of Florida or the United States. This type of modification is only available where the owner of the billboard accepts a modified billboard in lieu of compensation for the billboard condemned. Payment for the billboard condemned makes the owner ineligible for the application of the modification of nonconforming billboard provisions contained herein. Billboard owners may be paid the cost of removal and demolition for the billboard condemned without losing eligibility to use the provisions of this ordinance.

7.

The technology currently being deployed for digital billboards is LED (light emitting diode), but there may be alternate, preferred and superior technology available in the future.

8.

Owners of digital billboards are encouraged to coordinate with the local authorities to display, without charge, on an as-needed basis, regional emergency information important to the traveling public including, but not limited to Amber Alerts, evacuation information, hurricane warnings or pertinent emergency management information.

(Code 1979, § 14-40(C); Ord. No. 98-30, § 3, 5-12-98; Ord. No. 03-47, §§ 4, 5, 10-2-03; Ord. No. 09-12, § 4, 4-14-09; Ord. No. 2010-24, § 2, 11-23-10; Ord. No. 2011-34, § 5, 12-13-11)