Nonconforming sign

Definition

A legal sign the code caught up with, which continues until something specific ends its status.

Why It Matters

Two things a buyer is usually told about these are wrong. A change of the advertising message does not terminate the rights, and neither does a sale, lease or transfer of the sign, although its location may not move. What ends the status is destruction, abandonment or discontinuance, and the federal rule hands every one of those definitions to the states: how long an empty face counts as abandoned, and what share of replacement cost counts as destroyed. Repair and maintenance are permitted so long as the sign stays substantially the same. Watch the scope too, because the clean federal statement is a billboard rule and most of a service book is on-premise signage under local zoning. A tenant turnover is a reface the shop keeps.