Franklin Township, PA Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Section 27-2015, Special Purpose Signs, groups several narrow exemptions from the Township's general sign rules, and Subsection 5 covers holiday decorations specifically: they are allowed a fixed window, six weeks before the holiday through two weeks after it, with no permit contemplated for a purely decorative display. That window is the operative limit for a homeowner's inflatable snowmen, lighted reindeer or seasonal yard figures in Franklin Township. The exemption has one condition built into the same sentence: if the decoration carries advertising or a business logo, the Township treats it as a sign, not a decoration, and it must conform to the ordinances governing signs in Sections 27-2001 through 27-2018, including the general prohibitions on flashing or distracting displays in Section 27-2001 and the illumination-hours limit in Section 27-2017.

Enforcement runs through the Zoning Officer under Section 27-2304: the Township issues a written enforcement notice describing the violation and a compliance deadline, and a resident who neither corrects the display nor appeals to the Zoning Hearing Board within the notice period faces a civil judgment of up to $500 plus court costs and attorney fees before the Magisterial District Judge, with each day of a continuing violation counted separately. Nothing in Chapter 27 or Chapter 2 (Animals) or Chapter 6 (Conduct) imposes a separate lawn-ornament setback, size cap or registration requirement outside this six-week/two-week decoration window.