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HomeMy WebLinkAbout278ORDINANCE NO. 278 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS AMENDING SECTIONS 5-1.02(j) AND 5-1.21 OF CHAPTER 1 ENTITLED "LITTER" OF TITLE 5 OF THE LOS ALTOS HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE CONCERNING THE POSTING AND REMOVAL OF ELECTION SIGNS The City Council of the City of the Town of Los Altos Hills DOES ORDAIN as follows: SECTION 1. The City Council of the City of the Town of Los Altos Hills hereby finds and determined that it is necessary to amend and revise its ordinances dealing with the posting and removal of election signs by reason of the recent decision by the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case entitled TAXPAYERS FOR VINCENT AND CANDIDATES' OUTDOOR GRAPHICS SERVICE (COGS) vs. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, and in order to accomplish each of the following: (a) That the posting of election signs shall not: (i) Interfere with the normal and primary use of City objects, many of which uses are intimately connected with public safety; or (ii) Increase traffic hazards; or (iii) Damage public property or City objects. (b) To continue and implement the City's long-standing concern with promoting a pleasing, aesthetic environment reducing visual clutter in the City's residential zones. SECTION 2. AMENDMENT OF CODE. Subsection (j) of Section 5-1.02 of Chapter 1 entitled "Litter" of Title 5 of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code hereby is amended to read as follows: 400 4 SECTION 5-1.02. DEFINITIONS. (j) "Election Sign" shall mean any sign of a political nature which directly relates to candidate or to a ballot issue in an election conducted by a governmental entity and which is erected on property within the jurisdictional boundaries of such election. SECTION 3. AMENDMENT OF CODE. Section 5-1.21 of Chapter 1 entitled "Litter" of Title 5 of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code hereby is amended to read as follows: SECTION 5-1.21. POSTING ELECTION SIGNS. An election sign may be erected without a permit in conformity with this Section. (a) Public property. No election sign shall be erected on the following public property: (1) Any public property in any residential zone, including, but not limited to, any public street, pathway, parking lot, fence, post, tree, utility guy line or any other public way or place. (2) Any fire hydrant. (3) Any City sign, including, but not limited to, traffic sign. (4) Any utility pole. (5) Any City equipment, street light pole, traffic signal pole or traffic signal controller. -2- W (6) Any City building, tree or shrub. (7) Any other public way or place where a sign would obstruct a motorist's line of sight. (b) Private property. An election sign may be erected on private property only if the owner or all the occu- pants consent to having the election sign erected. If the person who wants to erect the election sign is not the owner and is one of several occupants, he or she shall obtain written consent from the owner or from all of the other occupants. The written consent shall be filed with the Building Official upon request. Such consent may be withdrawn at any time by notifying in writing the Building Official and the person erecting the sign. Upon withdrawal of consent, the election sign shall be immediately removed by the person who erected the sign. (c) Sign restrictions. An election sign may be erected only in accordance with the following re- strictions: (1) Illumination. No election sign may be illuminated in any manner other than by previously existing lighting fixtures normally used for illumination of the site of the sign. (2) Wall signs. A wall sign or combination of wall signs shall not exceed one square -3- 6 to foot for every forty square feet of the building face upon which the sign is erected, except that, regardless of the size of the building face, (i) any such sign or combination of signs may have an area of at least six square feet, and (ii) no such sign or combination of signs shall have an area greater than one hundred fifty square feet. (3) Freestanding or suspended signs. A free- standing or suspended sign shall not have an area exceeding six square feet and shall not be more than three feet high. (d) Duration and removal. An election sign shall be completely removed no later than six (6) days following the date of the election. Each election sign shall be removed by the person who erected it or by the owner of the property upon which the sign is erected. SECTION 4. VIOLATION AND ENFORCEMENT. (a) Any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance is guilty of an infraction. Any person convicted of an infraction under the provisions of this Ordinance shall be punishable for a first conviction by a fine of not more than fifty dollars, for a second conviction within a period of one year by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, and for a third or any subsequent conviction within a period of one year by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty dollars. QC (b) In addition, election signs erected in violation of any provision of this section may be removed and disposed of by the Building Official or his designee. SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. If any provision or clause of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional or to be otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect other section provisions, and clauses of this Ordinance are declared to be severable. SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. POSTING. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days from and after its passage, and shall be posted within the City of the Town of Los Altos Hills in three (3) public places. The within Ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of the Town of Los Altos Hills this 8th day of November , 1982, and was thereafter passed and enacted at a regular meeting of the City Council this 1st day of Deoember 1982, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmember: Allison, Perkins, Proft and van Tamelen NOES: Councilmember: None ABSENT: Councilmember: Hillestad ATTEST: k City Clerk By — Mayor -5-