To ensure that signs are designed, constructed, installed, and maintained so that the public safety is protected and traffic safety is maintained;

To allow and promote positive conditions for sign communication while at the same time promoting an attractive business environment;

To reflect and support the desired character and development patterns of the Comprehensive Plan and the various zoning districts;

To allow for adequate, effective, and aesthetic signs in commercial and industrial zones and prevent over concentration of signage; and

To ensure that the constitutionally guaranteed right of free speech is protected.

Business Entity: Any trade, business or operation that provides goods or services to other trades, businesses, operations or the general public. Business entities within one building are considered separate if:

Public Access Easement; Property that grants an easement to allow the public, vehicular and pedestrian access over a parcel of land owned by an individual or entity to gain access to other adjoining properties.

A sign is any word, numeral, figure, design, trademark, logo, flag, pennant, twirler, light, banner, display or other device of any kind which whether single or in any combination, is used to attract attention, direct, identify, inform, persuade, advertise or for the purpose of visually attracting attention of the public while viewing the same from outdoors.

A window sign is a sign installed or maintained inside a window for the purpose of viewing from the outside the premises. This term shall not include merchandise located in the window.

No exterior sign shall advertise a service, product, business, activity or institution which is offered, sold, carried on, produced or manufactured elsewhere than on the premises where such sign is located except for signs not exceeding 32 square feet in area advertising activities such as fund raising by nonprofit organizations such as churches, schools, civic groups, YMCA and similar entities, which signs may be erected for no more than 30 days prior to such activities and which must be removed within 30 days after such activities have ceased.

The content or advertising message carried by signs hereafter erected on any premises shall be limited to one of the following:

Private dwellings. Private dwellings in any nonresidential district used to accommodate tourists, and for home occupations, shall be considered residential and any signs shall conform in all respects to the requirements of subsection 22.3(F).

Maximum area; height of bottom edge above street, etc., maximum projection over sidewalk, etc. Every sign erected from and after July 1, 1992 except as provided in subsection 22.3(F) shall comply with the following:

(Reserved)

Business Park and Shopping Center and Signs.

Freestanding business or commercial signs shall be located on the lot on which the business is located, except that contiguous properties under the same ownership, may be considered as one lot for the purpose of this section.

All portions of every freestanding sign must be erected at least eight feet from a city right of way or other public property and may not be erected in such a manner as to interfere with a city or public utility easement.

ROUTE 58 CORRIDOR HIGH-RISE SIGN

An on-premise freestanding sign that is located on any parcel of land zoned B-3 General Business or Industrial with any part of the parcel located within 500 feet of the Route 58 by-pass right of way within the cooperate limits of the City of Franklin. These signs shall be permitted for businesses and developments for the purpose of attracting non-local traffic from the by-pass. Such signs shall be allowed within the cooperate limits of the City. Route 58 corridor high-rise signs shall be allowed when the following requirements are met:

A building mounted sign is a sign which is visible from a public street or place and which is attached to or derives its major support from a wall, roof or fence and includes, but is not limited to, the following: an awning sign, canopy sign, marquee sign, projecting sign, roof sign, fence sign and wall sign. Signs painted on exterior building walls shall be considered building mounted signs. Sign area of building mounted signs shall be measured within a continuous perimeter enclosing the entire display face of the sign, including background, framing, trim, molding and other borders, but excluding supports and uprights unless such supports or uprights are designed as an integral part of the display for the purpose of illustration or attraction or unless they are illuminated. Where a sign consists of two identical parallel faces which are set back to back and located not more than 24 inches from each other, only one side of such sign shall be used in computing the area. The area of signs with more than two faces, or with faces which are not parallel or not within the same plane with each other shall be the sum of the area of all the sign faces. The area of a cylindrical sign shall be computed by multiplying one-half the circumference by the height of the sign. Where individual letters, characters or figures are mounted using a building facade as a background, the area of such sign shall be determined by computing the sum of the area within the outer perimeter of each individual character or figure comprising the total message, symbol or advertisement. Computational methodology to determine sign area is set forth below this section in figures (1) and (2).

The maximum sign area for building mounted signs shall not exceed one square foot of building mounted sign area for each lineal foot of building frontage facing a public street or a public access easement not to exceed a total of 100 square feet in area facing each public street, except that no sign shall be required to be less than 15 square feet in area. For buildings housing more than one tenant, the sign area for each tenant shall be considered separately, but the total square footage may not exceed the standard set forth hereinabove.

Where building frontage is on more than one public street or a public access easement, the frontage on the sides of the building facing the public streets or public access easements shall be used to calculate the permitted sign area for that particular building front.

Where the rear of the building faces a parking lot, additional signage shall be allowed on the rear of the building, not to exceed one square foot of building mounted sign area for each lineal foot of building width facing the parking lot, not to exceed a total of 100 square feet in area, except that no sign area shall be required to be less than 15 square feet in area. For buildings housing more than one tenant, the sign area for each tenant shall be considered separately, but the total square footage may not exceed the standard set forth hereinabove.

In all zoning districts the maximum square footage of building mounted signs set forth in b. and d. above may be increased by .25 square foot for each lineal foot of building frontage in excess of one hundred (100) lineal feet.

In B-3, M-1 and M-2 zoning districts, if a building frontage facing a public street towards which a sign is oriented is more than one hundred (100) linear feet, the square footage area of signs may be increased as follows:

Projecting signs and signs attached to the bottom of a marquee or roof overhang shall not project more than five feet from the building front nor closer than two feet from any curb line. The maximum size for these signs shall be 15 square feet per face, and they shall have a minimum clearance of eight feet above a public sidewalk, public street, or public alley.

A portable sign is a sign usually of a temporary nature, not securely anchored to the ground or to a building or structure and which obtains some or all of its structural stability with respect to wind or other normally applied forces by means of geometry or character.

It shall be unlawful to erect or maintain portable signs except that portable unlighted signs not exceeding four feet in height and 2 1/2 feet in width may be placed on sidewalks in front of businesses located in other than residential districts unless approved as part of a special exception or conditional use. Such portable signs shall not obstruct the means of egress from the building or any accessible route as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Such signs must be maintained in good condition and removed each day by the close of business, in inclement weather or in extremely windy conditions.

Flashing signs and lights outlining exteriors of a building: It shall be unlawful to erect or maintain any lighted sign on an intermittent or flashing circuit. It is also unlawful to outline the exterior of any buildings with lights — Except during governmentally recognized holidays, holiday seasons and city celebrations when authorized by the zoning administrator. Time, temperature and stock quotation signs are not to be considered flashing signs.

Revolving and/or moving signs: It shall be unlawful to erect or maintain a revolving or otherwise moving sign.

Externally illuminated signs: Not more than two bulbs per face, which shall be white light, shall be used to illuminate any externally illuminated sign and these bulbs shall each be of a capacity not exceeding 200 watts.

Bulbs: Bulbs used on signs shall be only white in color.

Roof signs: A roof sign is any sign which is erected, constructed and maintained above the roof of the building. It shall be unlawful to erect or maintain a roof sign except for holiday decorations.

Flexible, moving or fluttering signs or other devices to attract attention. It shall be unlawful to erect or put up any flexible, moving or fluttering banners, flags, balloons or other devices to attract attention, except cloth flags (including American flags), cloth or plastic banners or latex balloons to advertise any commercial or noncommercial activity for a maximum of five days per promotion in any single calendar month in business and industrial districts. The person or business erecting or putting up such displays shall notify the zoning administrator in writing at least three business days prior to erecting or putting up such displays on forms provided by the department of community development. No permit or fee shall be required for such displays. In any business or industrial district except the B-2 central commercial district such displays shall not be erected or put up within ten feet of the public right-of-way or in a way which is distracting to persons operating motor vehicles on public streets. Any violation of this provision shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $100.00.

Temporary banners over streets. The zoning administrator may permit the hanging, stringing or placing of banners made of cloth or other material not less than 25 feet above the surface of the street for a period not exceeding ten days and expressly advertising an upcoming and dated event.

All tourist and bed and breakfast signs in residential zoning districts shall be constructed so that no portion of such signs shall be closer than seven feet from the owner's property line and the top of such signs no more than six feet above the average ground level of the yard. Every such sign shall be affixed to a single upright post or posts, a wall, fence or monument with and an advertising area of no more than eight square feet. No electric or neon signs shall be permitted, and not more than two incandescent bulbs of 25 watts or less shall be used to illuminate the sign. No more than one such sign shall be permitted at each residence.

Home occupation signs in residential districts shall be permitted as set forth in the definition of home occupations in article XXIX of this appendix.

All signs for all other nonresidential uses surrounded by predominantly residential uses shall comply with the provisions of subsection 22.3(B) except that the maximum sign area shall be 32 square feet per face and the maximum height shall be seven (7) feet above the average ground level.

Real estate signs are signs advertising the sale, lease or rental of real property. The term open-house shall mean the showing of real estate which is for sale, lease or rental by the real estate brokers and agents who are involved directly or indirectly in the sale of real estate in the City of Franklin.

All real estate signs shall be located only on the property which is for sale, except for open-house directional signs.

All real estate signs advertising residential property for sale or lease must be nonilluminated and not exceed eight square feet in sign area per sign face.

All real estate signs advertising property other than residential property shall not exceed 32 square feet in sign area per sign face, and shall not be located in any residential zone.

No real estate sign shall be placed within less than eight feet from the edge of the pavement of any public street or one-third of the distance between the pavement of any public street and the residence or building in those instances where the residence or building is less than 24 feet from the edge of the pavement of any public street. No real estate sign or open house directional sign shall be placed on any city right-of-way.

No permits and no fees shall be required for real estate signs.

There shall be no more than one real estate sign advertising a single tract for sale or lease on each street frontage.

In a subdivision which contains five lots or more, a real estate sign not exceeding 32 square feet may be placed in the subdivision or at the entrance to the subdivision advertising said property for sale or lease. Such subdivision signs shall apply only to the initial sale of lots within the subdivision and shall be allowed to remain for not more than 24 months or until 80% of the lots are sold.

Directional Real Estate Signs: A directional real estate sign (hereinafter referred to as "directional signs") is a temporary sign informing the public that property is available for examination for sale or lease purposes. Only generic directional real estate signs as described below shall be displayed on property.

Off premises real estate signs advertising the sale, lease or rental of property shall be allowed in conjunction with an open-house showing only and shall be limited to eight square feet in size. All other off premises signs except for open-house directional signs as set forth above shall be prohibited. Open-house directional signs shall not be displayed for more than 72 consecutive hours and shall be located only in residential zones.

Sales Office and Model Home Signs. Sales office and model home signs (signs identifying a developer's sales office/model home sites) are subject to the following:

Theater signs. In addition to the signs otherwise permitted by this section, a theater shall be permitted a changeable message sign, the surface area of which shall not exceed 64 square feet. Any building in which is located two or more theaters shall be permitted an extra 16 square feet of surface area per additional theater.

Gasoline price displays. In addition to the signs otherwise permitted by this section, gasoline stations shall be permitted to erect and maintain up to two changeable message signs not to exceed 12 square feet on each face or one changeable message sign not to exceed 24 square feet per face for the purpose of displaying gasoline prices. Notwithstanding any other provision contained in this section, such signs may be affixed to the structure of a pole sign on the property.

Menu signs for drive-through restaurants. In addition to the signs otherwise permitted by this section, a drive-through restaurant shall be permitted one menu sign placed in proximity to the drive-through lane for the purpose of ordering. Such sign shall be positioned at least 40 feet from any street right-of-way or residentially zoned property and shall have a surface area not exceeding 36 square feet.

Directory signs. In addition to the signs permitted by this section, free standing directory signs with a maximum height of 40 inches, a maximum width of 30 inches and a maximum tenant identification area of four inches by 30 inches for identification of tenants located in a building or buildings having more than one entrance for customers. Such signs shall be located in or at the parking area or between the parking area and the building entrance of the tenants being identified and shall not intrude upon any handicap accessible parking area or route, fire lane or utility easement.

Signs attached to the exterior of a motor vehicle or painted on to a motor vehicle parked on or beside a public street for the sole purpose of advertising are prohibited.

Signs or other advertising matter as regulated by this section erected at the intersection of any streets or in the right-of-way in such a manner as to obstruct free and clear vision are prohibited. Furthermore, signs or advertising matter which by reason of the position, shape, or color interfere with or obstruct the view of any authorized traffic sign, signal or device, are also prohibited. At all public street intersections, there shall be no sign erected between the heights of three (3) feet and ten (10) feet and no obstruction to vision between those heights other than a single post or column which does not exceed twelve (12) inches in its greatest cross sectional dimension, within the visibility triangle formed by the lot lines on the street side of such lot and a diagonal line joining points on such lot lines at distances from the point of their intersection as set forth in the following table and as shown in the graphic below:

Unshielded illuminated devices that produce glare or are a hazard to motorists are prohibited.

Any sign that is located on property which becomes vacant and unoccupied, pertains to a business which does not maintain a current and valid business license or pertains to a time or event that has passed, shall deemed to have been abandoned.

Before a sign which has been abandoned for two years or more may be put into use it must be brought into compliance with this article.

Restrictions for marquee signs. Signs on marquees shall be considered wall signs and shall be subject to the requirements established for wall signs.

Restrictions for canopies and awnings.

A pedestrian sign is a sign intended primarily for viewing by pedestrian traffic, displayed as a wall or window sign, and containing information including the following and other similar information: suite numbers; instructions regarding operation of doors; names of accepted credit companies; and hours of operation.

Pedestrian signs shall not be counted as part of wall or window signable area.

The height of pedestrian sign lettering or symbols shall not exceed four inches.

Permit required. It shall be unlawful to erect, alter or relocate any sign without first obtaining a sign permit from the zoning administrator unless the sign is exempt under subsection 22.4(d) of this section.

When a sign permit has been issued, it shall be unlawful to change, modify, alter, or otherwise deviate from the terms or conditions of said permit without prior approval of the zoning administrator. A written record of such approval shall be entered upon the original permit application and maintained in the files of the zoning administrator.

Application. In order to obtain a permit to erect, alter or relocate any sign under the provisions of this section, an applicant therefore shall submit to the zoning administrator a sign permit application which shall set forth in writing a complete description of the proposed sign including:

Issuance of permit if application in order. It shall be the duty of the zoning administrator, upon receipt of a completed application for a sign permit, to examine such plans and specifications and other data and, if the proposed structure is in compliance with the requirements of this section and all other applicable provisions of this Code, to issue to the applicant a written permit evidencing the applicant's compliance therewith. Issuance of the permit shall in no way prevent the zoning administrator or designated representative from later declaring said sign to be nonconforming if upon further review of information submitted with the application it is found that the data submitted is incorrect or if the sign is not built in accordance with specifications of plans submitted.

Permit duration. A sign permit shall become null and void if the sign for which the permit was issued has not been completed within a period of six months after the date of issuance.

Inspection. All signs for which a permit is required by this section shall be inspected by the zoning administrator or designated representative.

Revocation. The zoning administrator is hereby authorized and empowered to revoke any permit issued upon failure of the holder thereof to comply with the provisions of this section within 30 days after notification in writing.

Permit fees. Before any permit is issued under the provisions of this section, the applicant shall pay the applicable sign permit fee and a zoning certificate fee.

Interpretation. Any sign which may be classified within more than one sign category shall be classified within the most restrictive category.

Maintenance and repair. All signs and sign structures shall maintain the following standards of structural repair and visual appearance. All structural and nonstructural components must be positioned and secured in accordance with approved plans for the sign. Any apparently deteriorated, damaged, or weakened components shall be promptly repaired or replaced. All lettering, advertising copy and painted surfaces must be free of chipping, peeling, and fading detectable within three hundred feet of the sign. Components composed of plastic, acrylic, and other artificial compositions must be free of cracks, holes, buckling, or any other condition affecting the strength and stability of the component. Electrical signs must be maintained in working order. Minimum maintenance requirements for electrical signs and electrical systems include but are not limited to: prompt removal and replacement of all defective bulbs, tubes, neon light segments, damaged or deteriorated electrical wiring, and malfunctioning control devices and related circuitry. If Community Development personnel determine that these standards have not been met, notice shall be given of specific defects and reasonable time for correction. Failure to comply with such notice shall constitute a violation of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code/Virginia Maintenance Code and may require removal of the sign and sign structure.

Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $100.00.

Each day such violation continues after written notification from the zoning administrator shall constitute a separate offense.

One professional name plate attached to the building not exceeding three square feet in area.

Any flag of the United States of America, the State of Virginia, the City of Franklin and flags not exceeding 15 square feet in size of any other governmental entity any religious or fraternal organization or seasonal flags.

Decorative flags and bunting for a city-wide celebration, conventions, and commemorations when authorized by the zoning administrator for a one-week period.

Holiday lights and decorations.

Memorial or historic tablets, information as to the name of the building, date of erection, special description or other material of historic interest, when cut into a masonry surface or constructed of bronze or other similar material and not exceeding six square feet.

Nonadvertising directional signs or symbols (e.g. entrance, exit, caution, slow, no trespassing) located on and pertaining to a parcel of real private property, not to exceed two square feet in area.

Identification signs at the entrance drive of residences and farms which do not exceed two square feet in area.

Window signs which identify or advertise the business which occupies the premises, community activities, services, goods, or products available within the building, and which collectively cover 30 percent or less of the window glass surface area.

Signs incorporated on machinery or equipment at the manufacturer's or distributor's level, which identify or advertise only the product or service dispensed by the machine or equipment, such as signs customarily affixed to vending machines, newspaper racks, telephone booths, and gasoline pumps.

Warning signs. "No Soliciting," "No Trespassing," "Beware of Dog," and similarly worded warning signs which have a surface area not exceeding two square feet.

Occupant signs. One sign displaying the occupant's name may be placed on each residential dwelling unit, the surface area of which shall not exceed two square feet.

Real estate signs as set forth in subsection 22.3(e) except for real estate signs advertising nonresidential property which requires a zoning certificate.

One garage or yard sale sign having a surface area not exceeding six square feet.

Publicly owned and maintained directional or regulatory signage or symbols.

Signs announcing business openings.

Construction signs.

Political signs.

Signs on motor vehicle.

Advertising signs at public athletic fields.