Planning Department

Business Signs

IMPORTANT : All sign requirements should be verified using the Chesterfield County Sign ordinance, dated November 1994, which is also a part of the Development Standards manual dated April 1997. You may need to check individual parcel files for sign conditions that may apply to your proposed project. The files can be reviewed in the Planning Department between 8:30 am - 5 pm Monday - Friday or you may contact our office for assistance. The shopping center or office park management of your site may have additional sign requirements within a required sign package above and beyond the County standards as well.

BUILDING-MOUNTED SIGNS :

1.25 square feet of signage for each One (1) lineal foot of building frontage with a minimum of twenty (20) square feet and a maximum of one hundred fifty (150) square feet shall be permitted by the Ordinance. Building frontages exceeding one hundred fifty (150) feet may increase the one hundred fifty square foot maximum sign area by one (1) square foot for each additional three (3) lineal feet of building frontage.

Individual sites or out parcels where freestanding signs are permitted and one is Not installed, the building-mounted sign area may be calculated at 1.75 square feet for each One (1) lineal foot of building frontage.  If individually mounted or painted letters are used the minimum area shall be increased to thirty ( 30 ) square feet.

FREESTANDING SIGNS :

All freestanding sign supports shall be covered with a material of similar color and finish to the advertised business building on site. Landscaping shall be provided around each sign and shall be depicted on a landscaping plan for the project. The sign area may be increased by twenty five (25%) percent, if a changeable copy sign is integrated into the sign, excluding movie theater signs. Changeable copy signs must be integrated into or located next to the main sign face and cannot exceed fifty (50%) percent of the total sign face. Retail fuel price signs may be increased by (25%) twenty five percent if advertising on-site gasoline and diesel fuel products.

FREESTANDING SIGN SETBACKS :

All signs, including directional signs, shall be setback a minimum of fifteen (15) feet from all property lines unless a greater setback is required. Along public rights-of-way, the setback may be reduced to a minimum of twenty (20) feet from the edge of pavement or face of curb, but in no case shall the sign be setback less than one (1) foot from the property line. The sign shall be relocated to conform to the ordinance requirements at the time the public road is widened by VDOT. The freestanding sign setback within any Village district shall be five (5) feet from the right-of-way line.

DEFINITIONS :

Sign - Any display of letters, figures, designs, devices, pictures, logos, emblems, insignia, numbers, lines or colors or any combination thereof, visible to the public for the purpose of making anything known or attracting attention.

Sign, building-mounted - A sign attached, erected, or painted on the outside wall of a building and supported by any part of a building such as a wall, roof, window, door, canopy, awning, arcade or marquee.

Sign, freestanding - A non-movable sign supported by a fence, retaining wall, or by upright structural members or braces on or in the ground and not attached to a building.

Sign, changable - A sign whose informational content can be changed or altered by manual, or electric, electro-mechanical, or electronic means. Changeable signs include the following :

1. Manual: Signs whose alphabetic, pictographic, or symbolic     informational content can be changed or altered by manual means.
2. Electrical : Signs whose alphabetic, pictographic, or symbolic informational content can be changed or altered on a fixed display surface composed of electrically illuminated or mechanically driven changeable segments. Includes two types:
   • Fixed Message Electronic Signs: Signs whose basic informational content has been pre-programmed to include only certain types of information projection, such as time, temperature, and date.
   • Computer Controlled Variable Message Electronic Signs: Signs whose informational content can be   changed or altered by means of computer-driven    electronic impulses. (requires a Conditional Use permit from the Board of Supervisors for this sign type)