Franklin County, KY Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

The sign rule sits in § 155.111 of the Franklin County zoning chapter, which the Fiscal Court adopted as Ord. 8 in 1987 and amended by Ord. 4-2012. The section sorts home occupations into two types. Minor home occupations can be approved administratively, but only if the applicant meets every listed criterion, including the requirement that there be no visible exterior evidence of the conduct of the occupation. No sign fits within that criterion, and no business license issues for a minor home occupation until the applicant shows every condition is met.

Major home occupations need a conditional use permit from the Board of Zoning Adjustments before a business license is issued. One condition of that approval is the sign limit: no more than one sign, the sign cannot be illuminated, it cannot exceed two square feet in area, and it cannot stand on its own post or base. In practice that means a small plate or placard attached to the house or another structure.

The same list of major home occupation conditions limits employees to residents plus one non-resident worker on site at a time, caps customers, clients or pupils at two on the site at one time, and bars on-site customers and non-resident employees between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Deliveries are limited to two commercial deliveries in any 24-hour period and no tractor-trailers. Section 155.111(D) adds that a home occupation permit is not transferable: a new permit is required whenever the occupation, occupant or address changes, so a sign for a new business at the same address starts the process over. Section 155.111(F) also bars certain businesses outright as home occupations, including beauty parlors, barber shops and kennels.