(a) This chapter is intended to protect, promote and enhance the overall aesthetic of the city and also the health, safety, welfare and economic interests of residents, businesses, property owners, workers, consumers, tourists and visitors – each of which constitutes a substantial governmental interest – through a comprehensive system of reasonable, effective, consistent, content-neutral and nondiscriminatory standards, restrictions, and requirements. The overall aesthetic of the city suffers when unsightliness or visual clutter is caused by the existence, location or physical characteristics of a sign or sign structure. The health, safety, welfare and economic interests of residents, businesses, property owners, workers, consumers, tourists and visitors suffer when a sign or sign structure distracts vehicular traffic, is illegible or otherwise confusing, obstructs lines of sight for vehicular traffic, obstructs pedestrian traffic, obstructs lines of sight for pedestrian traffic or creates unsightliness or visual clutter. Commerce, property values and quality of life in the city are each impacted, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, by signs and sign structures. For all of these reasons, establishing and enforcing a comprehensive system in the city for signs and sign structures is reasonable and necessary, and will benefit the city and all individuals and entities by:

(b) This chapter is not intended, and shall not be interpreted or enforced, so as to regulate or restrict any sign or sign structure based on the viewpoint or message expressed by, on or within the sign or sign structure. Similarly, this chapter is not intended, and shall not be interpreted or enforced, so as to favor or disfavor commercial speech, noncommercial speech, political speech or nonpolitical speech in comparison to any other type or types of speech. Rather, this chapter is intended, and shall be interpreted and enforced, so as to be viewpoint-neutral, message-neutral and neutral as to commercial speech, noncommercial speech, political speech and nonpolitical speech. (Ord. 2134, § 1, 2021.)