*Site Sign Billboards Text Amendment Proposal

City of Glendale — Regular Meeting (2025-08-28)

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PROPOSED CHANGES ARE IN RED. STRICKEN ITEMS ARE IN BLACK. 
 
35.4.309 Permitted Signs by Use 
 
Table 4.300-1: Site Signs 
For the purposes of this code, a Site Sign shall refer to any permanent sign that is not affixed to a building and is 
commonly used to advertise a business or service. 
Permitted Zoning Districts 
Permitted Type of 
Uses 
Special Requirements & Section 
References 
Billboard, 
Static 
M-1 and M-2 
All permitted uses 
See Section 35.4.310.A for specific sign 
standards. 
Loop 101 & 303 
Billboard, 
Digital 
(Electronic) 
M-1 and M-2, or Approved 
PAD 
All permitted uses 
See Section 35.4.310.B for specific sign 
standards. 
Loop 101& 303 
Directional 
R-3, R-4, R-5, R-O; and 
C-O, G-O PR, SC, C-1, C-2, C- 
3, B-P, M-1, M-2 
Multiple Residence 
uses; 
All permitted non- 
residential uses 
See Section 35.4.310.C for specific sign 
standards. 
Excludes single-family residential parcels. 
Directory 
All districts 
All permitted uses 
See Section 35.4.310.D for specific sign 
standards. 
Excludes single-family residential 
development option. 
Drive-Up / 
Drive- 
Through 
C-O, G-O, PR, C-1, C-2, C-3 
All permitted drive-up 
/ drive through uses 
only 
See Section 35.4.310.E for specific sign 
standards. 
Electronic 
Reader Panel 
R-3, R-4, R-5, R-O; and 
C-O, G-O PR, C-1, C-2, C-3, 
B-P, M-1, M-2 
Multiple Residence 
uses; 
All permitted non- 
residential uses 
See Section 35.4.310.F for specific sign 
standards. 
Excludes single-family residential 
development and parcels. 
Excludes individual users / tenants in all 
Multiple Residence development. 
Entry Wall 
Monument 
All districts 
All permitted uses 
See Section 35.4.310.G for specific sign 
standards. 
Excludes individual single-family parcels. 
Permitted in single-family residential 
communities / subdivisions 
Freestanding 
Monument 
All districts 
All permitted uses 
See Section 35.4.310.H for specific sign 
standards. 
Excludes individual single-family parcels. 
Permitted in single-family residential 
communities / subdivisions 
Pylon 
R-5; and 
C-O, G-O, C-1, C-2, C-3, B-P, 
M-1, M-2 
Multiple Residence 
uses; 
All permitted non- 
residential uses 
See Section 35.4.310.I for specific sign 
standards. 
Proximity to Loop 101, Loop 303, 
Northern Parkway, or Grand Avenue

35.4.310 Site Signs 
 
This Section is comprised of permitted Site Signs and their respective regulations. Signs 
not appearing in this Section shall be considered prohibited. 
A. Billboards, Static 
1. Permit required. 
2. Static billboards shall be prohibited in the designated Loop 101 Scenic Corridor. 
a. No static billboard shall be erected within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the 
planned or existing freeway, expressway, parkway, right-of-way, or planned 
corridor, as officially designated by the Arizona Department of Transportation or the 
City of Glendale. 
3. No new static billboards may be constructed within the city unless the person desiring 
to construct such a static billboard submits evidence to the City that the person has 
removed an existing static billboard from within the municipal limits of the City of 
Glendale. If evidence is submitted that a static billboard has been removed after the 
effective date of this ordinance, the City shall issue building and sign permits for one 
(1) new static billboard not to exceed the area of the sign which was removed or three 
hundred (300) square feet, whichever is less. However, if a person submits evidence 
that in excess of three hundred (300) square feet of static billboard area has been 
removed, by the removal of four (4) or more static billboards with an area of seventy-
five (75) square feet or less, the City shall issue building permits for one (1) new static 
billboard with a maximum area of three hundred (300) square feet. Any new static 
billboard shall be erected, constructed, or placed within six (6) months after removal of 
the static billboard(s) it is replacing. 
4. All static billboards erected, placed, or altered within the city shall comply 
with the following requirements: 
a. The space between the newly erected, placed, constructed, or altered 
static billboard and any existing static billboard shall not be less than six 
hundred (600) feet. 
b. All static billboards shall have landscaping around the base at a rate of fifteen 
(15) square feet per linear foot of sign. 
c. Off-site improvements or appropriate financial assurance as approved by the 
City shall be required along any abutting street for the full frontage of the 
property where the static billboard is to be located. 
d. No part of such sign structures shall be erected closer to a street than the 
front line of the nearest building which is within one hundred (100) feet of the 
sign and which fronts on that street; provided, however, that when a sign is 
erected between two (2) buildings which both front on the same street and 
which are both within one hundred (100) feet of the sign, then the sign shall

not be erected closer to that street than a line drawn from the nearest front 
corner of each building. 
e. If no building is located within one hundred (100) feet of the off-premise sign 
static billboard, the sign structure shall be set back in accordance with the 
setback requirements of the zoning district in which located, but shall not be 
less than ten (10) feet behind a front property line. 
f. Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, no static billboards shall be 
erected, placed, constructed, or altered within the city which have an area 
exceeding three hundred (300) square feet or a height exceeding twenty-five 
(25) feet. 
g. The static billboard's structure, not including the sign copy, shall be compatible 
with the color, reflectivity, and other qualities of its surrounding environment. 
h. No static billboard shall have more than one (1) support column. 
i. Access ladders to maintenance platforms shall be constructed or maintained 
in such a position as not to project beyond a visual envelope established by 
structural elements or projections of the sign face and trim to the ground as 
viewed from a place parallel to the face of the sign. 
j. Other than support columns, maintenance walkways, embellishments, ends, 
cross bracings, tops or bottoms, parallel or v-shaped signs, no back braces, 
torque arms, stringers, panel attachments, or similar structural elements or 
accessories shall be exposed. If such elements or accessories are not covered 
by a sign face, screening of such elements or accessories shall be colored 
similarly to the remaining portions of the sign back. 
 
B. Billboards, Digital (Electronic) 
1. Permit required. 
2. Digital billboards shall be prohibited in the designated Loop 101 Scenic Corridor. 
3. Placing a digital billboard sign requires that the zoning of the lot on which the digital 
billboard sign is located must be Planned Area Development (PAD). 
4. All digital billboards erected, placed, or altered within the city shall comply with the 
following requirements: 
a. Placing a digital billboard sign requires the approved Planned Area 
Development (PAD) to be located in Township 2 North, Range 1 East, Gila and 
Salt River Base and Meridian, Township 2 North, Range 2 West, Gila and Salt 
River Base and Meridian, or Township 3 North, Range 2 West, Gila and Salt 
River Base and Meridian, and to have a minimum of: 
i. 
one thousand (1,000) feet of lineal frontage adjacent to Loop 101 
(Agua Fria Freeway) or to have a minimum of one thousand

(1,000) feet of lineal frontage adjacent to Loop 303 (Estrella 
Freeway), or 
ii. 
regardless of lineal frontage, any PAD adjacent to the Loop 303 
that was approved prior to December 31, 2023, is allowed a 
minimum of one digital billboard sign per approved PAD. The 
placement of any additional digital billboards beyond this 
minimum shall be in compliance with all other applicable 
regulations and standards of this code. 
iii. 
Planned Area Developments approved within the boundaries of 
an existing approved Planned Area Development shall not be 
granted additional digital billboards, beyond the maximum 
number allowed by this ordinance, within the original approved 
Planned Area Development. 
b. The digital billboard sign must be located within three hundred (300) feet of the 
freeway right-of-way. 
c. There shall be a minimum distance of one thousand seven hundred sixty 
(1,760) feet between all digital billboard signs on any single Planned Area 
Development. 
d. All digital billboard signs must be set back a minimum of three hundred thirty 
(330) feet from the property line of any adjacent property not a part of the 
same approved Planned Area Development having frontage on Loop 101 
(Agua Fria Freeway) or Loop 303 (Estrella Freeway). This setback is not 
applicable to the property line, which is adjacent to the freeway right-of-way. 
Any PAD adjacent to the Loop 303 that was approved prior to December 31, 
2023, and has less than six hundred and sixty (660) feet of lineal freeway 
frontage, may request relief from this requirement through the Administrative 
Review process. 
e. Maximum sign height, including any supporting structures, for a digital 
billboard sign must be no more than sixty (60) feet. 
f. Maximum digital billboard sign width must be no more than fifty (50) feet.  
g. Maximum digital billboard sign area must not exceed six hundred seventy-five 
(675) square feet. 
h. The message or image of the digital billboard sign may be static or change at 
specific or programmed time intervals. The change in message or images shall 
occur no more frequently than once every eight (8) seconds and shall not have 
fade or dissolve transitions, or full animation or video, or similar subtle 
transitions or frame effects that have the appearance of moving text or images. 
A default black display shall be required in the event of a malfunction.

i. Message sequencing, the use of multiple digital billboards in a row to convey a 
message, shall be prohibited. 
j. Advertisements shall be limited to single frames. 
k. Provisions in this section supplement and do not supersede provisions of any 
PAD in existence before the effective date of this ordinance. 
l. Design Review approval is required to allow any digital billboard sign. 
m. No digital billboard shall be located within one thousand (1000) feet of any 
single residence zoning district including RR-90, RR-45, SR-30, SR-17, SR-12, R1-
10, R1- 8, R1-7, R1-6, R1-4, R-2, R-3, or property within unincorporated 
Maricopa County for which a plat was filed and recorded prior to January 1, 
2000. 
n. One digital billboard is permitted as a prelude to other developments in a 
PAD. Only one digital billboard sign shall be erected prior to the first phase 
of development on a PAD. All additional digital billboard signs shall be 
integrated into the PAD and have a relationship to the development, 
including common design elements such as styles and materials, and a 
functional relationship to the structures, parking, and open spaces in the 
development. The height, location, materials, color, texture, setbacks, and 
mass of the additional digital billboard signs must be appropriate to the 
development, the neighborhood, and the community. The architectural 
character of the proposed additional digital billboard sign shall be in 
harmony with, and compatible to, structures in the neighboring 
environment and the architectural character desired for the city, avoiding 
excessive variety or monotonous repetition. All additional digital billboard 
signs shall be reviewed only as part of the review of the Master 
Development Plan of the property and integrated with surrounding 
buildings and landscaping. Additional digital billboard signs will be 
permitted only as part of a comprehensive sign package for the entire PAD, 
which includes common design elements. Digital billboards must be fully 
integrated into this comprehensive sign package. 
 
o. Digital billboard sign illumination must be extinguished between 11:00 p.m. 
and sunrise. The only exception to this will be for amber alerts and other 
governmental emergencies. 
p. All illuminated digital billboard signs shall have unlimited daytime surface 
luminosity and shall be limited to 310 foot-candles during nighttime hours. 
q. All digital billboard signs shall provide for automatic dimming based upon 
ambient lighting conditions, including evening and overcast weather. 
r. It shall be unlawful for any digital billboard sign to have an illuminance 
greater than 1.0-foot candle at the property line of any adjacent property.

s. Any approved digital billboard sign shall adhere to new safety requirements 
if conclusive research findings develop. 
t. Only one digital billboard sign shall be erected prior to the first phase of 
development on a PAD. 
u. t. All digital billboard signs shall receive all required licenses prior to 
approval.