Attention Getting Devices
The new ordinance for the City of Houston went into affect Jan 1, 2010

To view the actual ordinance follow these steps:
(click here to view code of ordinances)
On the left hand side, click on "+" next to chapter 28. (this will show all section within chapter 28)
Then click on "+" next to ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL
Then on the left hand side go down to section 28-37 and click "Section 28-37 Attention Getting Devices"
On the right hand side you will see the actual ordinance (with the word "Commercial")

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Are Apartments a “Commercial” Business?

What does having the word "Commercial" in the ordinance mean. We will leave that to you.
Here is the definition we found for the word commercial:

Occupied with or engaged in (commerce) the exchange or buying and selling of commodities (merchandise)
on a large scale involving transportation from place to place

Do apartments engage in buying and selling of merchandise? If not, then why are they enforcing this ordinance on you?

(click here for the full definition we found)

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Houston Sign Administration

The Houston Sign Administration is responsible for the enforcement of this ordinance
(click here to view the webpage for Houston Sign Administration click on the link for Important Announcement)
The sign administration first posted their announcement on Aug 8, 2009. The original announcement omitted the word "Commercial".
We contacted the Sign Administration for weeks trying to get them to correct the mistake. We never heard back from them.

We visited the sign administration and tried to get an explaniation for why they were telling apartments that this ordinance affected them.
They said the ordinance was being enforced on "ALL" businesses. That was how they were trained and that is what their code enforcement
books said. We told them that the real copy of the ordinance said it was only for "Commercial" businesses and they said that they change
ordinances all the time and they were enforcing this ordinance on "ALL" businesses.

Finally, we sent an email to the entire city council and the new Mayor. Only after this email did we notice that the announcement on the Sign
Administration was corrected and the word "Commercial" was put back in. The Sign Administration never responded to our emails.