APPLICABILITY
Colorado Springs City Code § 7.4.1304
in effect7.4.1304: APPLICABILITY:
A. General Provisions:
1. The provisions of this part shall apply to the display, construction, erection, alteration, use, location, and maintenance of all signs within the City, unless otherwise exempted in whole or in part. All signs should be consistent with the standards and design considerations set forth in this part.
2. If any provision of this part conflicts with any other adopted City code that regulates signs, the provisions in this part shall govern.
3. The Form Based Zoning or Planned Development Zoning (PDZ) regulations may provide alternate sign requirements for applicable regions.
4. Use Specific Considerations:
a. Sign code regulations are based on the use of the property, including but not limited to commercial, industrial, office, civic, and residential uses.
b. Residential uses, as referenced in this part, refer to three-family, four-family, and multi-family dwellings. These uses include dwelling multi-family, manufactured home park, tiny house community, long-term care facility, group cooperative living, group living residence (medium and large), and human service establishment (medium and large).
c. Single family residential uses are restricted to certain minor and temporary signs, as referenced in City Code § 7.4.1307. These uses include dwelling, single family detached, dwelling two-family (duplex), dwelling, single family attached, manufactured home, group cooperative living, group living residence (small), human service establishment (small).
5. Signs located in the public right-of-way require a revocable permit pursuant to section City Code § 3.2.201.
6. It is the responsibility of the applicant to determine whether the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has sign regulations that apply to the property and to ensure compliance with such regulations.
B. Exemptions: The following signs shall be exempt from the provisions of this part:
1. Works Of Art: A decorative or artistic painting, sculpture, poem, or other product of the creative arts, including architectural graphics and murals, that does not include a commercial message, is not symbolic of any commercial business or commercial activity taking place on the subject property, and contains no form of advertising.
2. Official governmental signs, including, but not limited to, traffic signs, signals, and devices; warning signs; street signs; and interpretive signs. To the extent practicable, governmental signs shall attempt to comply with the sign requirements for civic use types.
3. Official legal notices.
4. Signs displayed within the interior of a building that are at least two feet (2') away from exterior windows.
5. Displays, lights, and decorations that do not contain commercial messaging.
6. Human signs held by persons, so long as the signs are not set down or propped on objects for extended periods of time.
7. Street numbers or addresses.
8. De Minimis Signs: Signage not containing a commercial message and not symbolic of any commercial business or commercial activity taking place on the subject property, not containing advertising, not exceeding three (3) square feet per sign, and a maximum of three (3) signs per property.
9. Nongovernmental outdoor entertainment or recreational venues with inward facing advertising on playing fields, walls, fences, backstops, and scoreboards.
10. Signs oriented only to the internal property on which they are located, not substantially visible from the public right-of-way, and set back over fifteen feet (15') or not visible from the lot line.
11. Temporary sign covers only used for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days, during which time a new permanent sign or sign component is being fabricated by the property owner.
12. Light Pole Banners: Vertical banners attached to existing light poles on private property not exceeding twenty-four (24) by forty-eight (48) inches and hung eight feet (8') above grade in pedestrian areas and fourteen feet (14') above grade in vehicular areas.
13. Face changes, re-paint, re-lamp, and general maintenance of previously permitted signage, so long as the sign is not raised, lowered, removed, or changed in a structural manner. (Ord. 26-01)
Source: City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, City Code and City Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/coloradospringsco/latest/coloradosprings_co/0-0-0-53507Fetched: 11/1/2026