General regulations

A. Maximum sign area. The maximum visible sign area associated with any business, or any product or service available therein, shall not exceed 100 square feet for properties in the CD-1 or CD-2 and Waterfront Districts and shall not exceed 140 square feet for properties in the Route 2 corridor and the MUPD, RHF, CH and L1/O Zones. This provision applies to all sign types requiring approval, including wall signs, freestanding and projecting signs. Directional and incidental signage is not included. For businesses located within shopping centers having greater than 100,000 square feet of gross floor area, the maximum visible sign area shall not exceed 30% of the building's facade (building face providing primary ingress/egress) associated with the tenant space. No business in such shopping centers shall have greater than 300 square feet of visible sign area, taking into account all sign types excluding directional and incidental ones. This provision shall apply only to those businesses located within the main structure(s) and shall not apply to any other freestanding structures (i.e., pad sites, kiosks, outbuildings, etc.).
B. Signs other than those affecting historic properties. The installation, enlargement, reduction or relocation of permitted signs in all zones are allowed as indicated in the Sign Table following approval and the issuance of a building permit from the Building Official unless otherwise indicated elsewhere in this article.
C. Signs affecting historic properties. All new signs proposed on properties included in the Article XI, Historic Districts, either as part of a district or individually or on properties individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, shall require sign approval from the Historic District Commission in addition to a building permit unless otherwise indicated elsewhere in this article. All requests shall be submitted for review as part of an overall sign proposal for the business and/or property.
D. Changes to nonconforming sings. Enlargement or relocation of legal nonconforming signs requires additional approval from the Zoning Board of Review as described elsewhere in this chapter.
E. Rhode Island Building Code. Within all zones and districts, all signs shall comply with applicable provision(s) of the Rhode island State Building Code and the National Electric Code.
F. Sign maintenance. Within all zones and districts, all signs shall be maintained in good structural condition, in compliance with Subsection D and in conformance with this article (unless otherwise allowed through the Zoning Board of Review) at all times.
G. Landscaping requirements. For the purposes of this article, "landscaping" shall include any combination of living plants such as grass, ground cover, shrubs, vines or hedges and nonliving landscape materials such as rocks, pebbles, sand mulch or decorative paving material. In the case of freestanding or monument signs, the requirement shall be that the area immediately underneath the sign and the entirety of an area extending two feet radially from the sign base or supports shall be landscaped. Landscape materials may not obstruct the view of the sign message.
H. Illumination. Within all zones, except as provided elsewhere in this article, all signs may be illuminated under the following criteria:
- (1) Internal illumination or backlighting of signs is prohibited in the Commercial Downtown (CD) and Waterfront (W) Districts.
- (2) Internal illumination or backlighting of signs is permitted in other zones only where any of the following exist:
  - (a) The background is darker than the letters placed against it; or
  - (b) The background is opaqued; or
  - (c) The background is ivory or a similar shade to give the impression of opaquing.
- (3) Signs may be illuminated by a stationary white or off-white steady light only. These lights shall not provide glare, nor shall they direct light or shine off the premises.
I. Alterations. Any legally existing sign (including legal nonconforming signs) may be altered either to update the sign content or to reflect new information, provided that the alteration does not result in any change in the sign's size, extent, location or illumination. Such updates do not require review or approval by the Historic District Commission or a sign permit.

J. Criteria for review.

(1) All sign proposals shall be evaluated under the following guidelines:
- (a) Compliance with ordinances.
- (b) Clarity of design and message.

(2) In addition to the criteria listed in Subsection H(1) and (2), all proposals reviewed by the Historic District Commission shall conform with the Historic District Commission's Guidelines for Review.

Sign Table
KEY:
Y	=	Yes; signs permitted
N	=	No; signs prohibited
R	=	Residential and Farm Zones
LI/O-RHF	=	Light Industry/Office and Rocky Hill Fairgrounds Zones
Rte. 2	=	South County Trail
W	=	Waterfront Zone
CH	=	Commercial Highway Zone
CD	=	Commercial Downtown CD 1 and CD 2 Zones
RHF	=	Rocky Hill Fairgrounds Zone
MUPD	=	Mixed Use Planned Development
PD	=	Planned Development

Type			CD	CH	W	RTE. 2	LI/O-RHF-MUPD	R-PD
Addresses ²			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Animated signs			N	N	N	N	N	N
Banners			N	N	N	N	N	N
Billboards			N	N	N	N	N	N
Building markers ²			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Canopy signs			Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Construction signs ¹			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Directional signs ²			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Directory signs			Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Flags ²			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Freestanding signs			Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
Gas station signs ¹			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Government signs ¹			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Incidental sign			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Monument signs			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Moving signs			N	N	N	N	N	N
Murals ¹			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Neon signs			Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Nameplates ²
	Professional		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Residential		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Off-Premises Signs:
	Commercial off-premises		N	N	N	N	N	N
	Noncommercial off-premises
		Temporary	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
		Permanent	N	N	N	N	N	N
Peddler signs ²			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Portable signs			N	N	N	N	N	N
Private parking lot signs ²			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Projecting signs			Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
Real estate signs:
	Residential ¹		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Commercial/ industrial ¹		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Subdivision ¹			N	N	N	Y	Y	Y
Residential signs ²			N	N	N	N	N	Y
Residential zone use signs			N	N	N	N	N	Y
Roof signs			N	N	N	N	N	N
Sandwich board signs ²			Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Subdivision identification signs ¹			N	N	N	Y	Y	Y
Wall signs			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Window signs:
	Permanent signs ²		Y	Y	Y	N	N	N

NOTES:
¹	Sign approval not required.
²	Sign approval and building permit not required.

K. Town signs. Governmental signs authorized by the Town may be used for the display of private commercial messages with the approval of the Town Council. The commercial message display area may be for a business, product, service or other commercial activity that is not located on the same premises. The display area of the commercial message may be equal to but shall not exceed the display area of the governmental message.