Signs
Posting of Signs
Please be aware that no sign is permitted within the street right-of-way, unless approved by the Township or the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Signs located within the street right-of-way may be removed by the Township.
No signs shall be painted, pasted, nailed, stapled, taped or otherwise attached to utility poles, trees, fences, fire hydrants, speed limit sign posts, signal control boxes, Township owned utilities, or in an unauthorized manner to walls or other signs, except insofar as such signs comply with generally applicable rules, regulations, or policies formally adopted by the governing body.
Any sign placed on a property without the owner’s permission or consent, may be removed by the owner. This includes all Township owned property.
Special Event Signs
A temporary sign which carriers information about a special event such as an auction, flea market, festival, carnival, meal or fund raising event, but not including an business or real estate sign, such as a “sale” sign at a store or “real estate” signs.
Special event signs do not require a permit, but must be placed in accordance with the Sign Ordinance 2014 as amended.
Garage Sale/Yard Sale Signs
This type of sign is defined as a temporary sign which directs attention to the sale of personal goods at a private residence or at a residential development. Yard sale signs do not require a permit.
Article 18 of the Manheim Township Zoning Ordinance regulates yard/garage sale signs as follows:
- One (1) on-premise garage/yard sale sign is permitted.
- Garage/yard sale signs cannot be larger than six square feet and may be placed no more than 48 hours before the sale and must be removed before the end of the day of the sale. Signs which are not removed within the time limit may be removed and impounded by the Township and the Township may recover a fee equal to the cost of removal and storage.
- A maximum of two off-premise garage/yard sale signs with a maximum of four square feet each are permitted per garage/yard sale. Off-premise garage/yard sale signs shall only be posted for the day of the sale.
- Garage/yard sale signs shall not be attached to any utility poles, signal poles, street signs, trees or fire hydrants.
- Garage/yard sales signs shall not obstruct a driver's vision on adjacent roadways.
Election/Issue Sign
These signs, defined as Issue Signs, are signs that direct attention to an opinion of a public or private nature, such as, but not limited to, a community, social, religious, political, or ballot issue. They do not require a permit.
In a residential zoning district, a six (6) square foot sign is permitted. This sign shall be placed no less than ten (10) feet back from the street right-of-way and be no higher than six feet.
In an institutional, business or industrial zoning district, signs are permitted with a maximum square footage of 32 feet. This sign shall be placed no less than ten feet from the street right-of-way and may not be higher than ten (10) feet.
One such sign may be placed per street frontage. In other words, one sign per property, unless that property is a corner property. A second sign may be placed facing the second street frontage when the property is a corner property.
While there is no time limit for the display of such signs, the general rule is for all such signs to be removed within three months, if the purpose for which they were erected no longer exists.
For further information please do not hesitate to email Lisa Douglas, Planning and Zoning Director, or call (717)569-6406 ext. 1123.