Commission recommends allowing regulated second-floor signs in select zones

The Murfreesboro Planning Commission on March 5 recommended that the city amend its sign ordinance to create a definition and standards for “second-floor signs” in select commercial zones and PUDs.

Teresa Stevens, the city sign administrator, told the commission the amendment would add a Second Floor sign definition and allow one sign per second-floor tenant that has at least 20 linear feet of second-floor frontage on a building front in zones GDO 1–4 and PUD. Proposed standards include a maximum letter/ sign height of 30 inches, a maximum of 1.5 square feet per linear foot of tenant frontage up to 100 square feet, placement at least 12 inches back from the tenant’s exterior limits, and mounting using individual solid cast letters, channel letters or reverse-channel letters. Raceways would be allowed but must match the building and be kept in good repair, Stevens said.

Stevens showed examples from other communities and said staff limited sign types to avoid visual clutter and overly bright cabinet signs. Commissioners asked for local examples; Stevens pointed to existing second-floor signs along Medical Center Parkway and in the Gateway area as comparable precedents.

After a brief public hearing with no speakers, a motion to approve the ordinance amendment subject to staff comments passed on a recorded vote. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for consideration and potential ordinance amendment.