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Peachtree City planning commission recommends allowing, defining halo and backlit wall signs
Summary
On June 8 the Peachtree City Planning Commission voted to recommend a text amendment to Chapter 66 that would allow and define reverse-channel (halo) and backlit wall signs and add technical limits intended to reduce glare and increase uniformity across older master sign plans.
Peachtree City’s Planning Commission voted June 8 to recommend a text amendment to the city’s sign ordinance that would explicitly allow and define reverse-channel (halo) and backlit wall signs and add technical standards intended to make those signs more uniform and less visually intrusive.
Staff told the commission that the proposed language would be placed in the wall-sign section of Chapter 66 (proposed new subsection 66-156) to define halo/reverse-channel and backlit signage and to spell out brightness and color guidance. “Right now, internally illuminated signs are prohibited,” the staff presenter said, explaining that many older commercial developments obtained master sign plans decades ago and that those plans sometimes authorized halo or backlit signs but did not specify brightness or color limits.
Commissioners focused questions on how the new rules would interact with existing master sign plans and on the technical limits staff proposed. Commissioner Chris noted prior lighting discussions and the trade-offs between warm and daylight color temperatures: “We did conclude coming out of that that…we should keep not to exceed the 6,500 [Kelvin],” he said, referencing earlier exterior-lighting guidance. Staff said the recommended values and luminous levels were informed by examples the city surveyed and by conversations with a sign manufacturer; staff also said they had not independently measured every existing sign and that many older halo/backlit signs remain grandfathered under their original master sign plans.
Staff told the commission that placing the definitional and technical language in the wall-sign section would apply the standards across retail, commercial, office and industrial areas while recognizing that some master sign plans may continue to control where a sign may be placed if those plans explicitly address placement or materials.
After discussion, the commission moved and approved a recommendation that the city council adopt the amendment as drafted. The commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council for its review; the motion to recommend passed by voice vote.
