DATE: January 19, 2018
TO: Board of Mayor and Aldermen
FROM: Eric Stuckey, City Administrator
Vernon Gerth, Assistant City Administrator - Community and Economic Development
Chris Bridgewater, Building and Neighborhood Services Department Director
Molly Pike, Zoning Administrator
Teresa Stevens, Zoning Enforcement Officer
SUBJECT: e
Initial Discussion And Consideration Whether To Amend The Sign Ordinance Section Of The City's Zoning Ordinance To Allow For Temporary "Building Topping Off Banners" To Be Displayed On Buildings Three Or More Stories Tall While Under Construction.
Purpose
The purpose of this memorandum is to obtain guidance from the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) regarding the placement of temporary banner signs on the upper stories of non-residential buildings under construction that are three (3) stories or greater when the exterior frame is complete. An ordinance amendment to the City's Sign Ordinance would be required.
Background
The City of Franklin existing Sign Ordinance limits temporary signs to 32 square feet and six (6) feet in height. Occasionally, staff has experienced instances when contractors, who are building taller structures, have unknowingly installed banners on the upper stories of buildings once the steel frame has been erected only to inform the contractor or business this type of "Building Topping Off" temporary signage is not allowed in Franklin. However, this type of temporary signage is common in other communities.
Staff has recently been approached by representatives of the Ramsey Group who is in the process of constructing the first of three, six-story office buildings as part of their new corporate headquarters in the Reams-Fleming Section of the Berry Farms Planned Development located immediately adjacent to I-65. In contemplating this request, staff determined the City's existing ordinance that restricts temporary signage to a maximum of 32 square feet and six (6) feet in...
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