Franklin County, NC Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Section 8.3.5 of the Unified Development Code lists 15 categories of prohibited signs for unincorporated Franklin County, and item M targets indirect illumination: floodlights or similar fixtures erected so they cause glare that impairs driver vision on streets or roadways, pilot vision approaching or departing Franklin County Airport runways, or a nuisance to adjoining property. Because outdoor advertising signs (billboards) are permitted only in the Heavy Industrial district under a Special Use Permit per § 8.4.5, any floodlight mounted to illuminate a billboard face falls squarely under this glare prohibition if it spills onto a road, the airport approach, or a neighbor's lot.

The county's broader exterior lighting standard, § 6.8.3, reinforces the point for nonresidential sites generally: all exterior lighting must be shielded or directed away from adjacent uses, lots, or public streets, with a hard cap of 0.2 foot-candle at a residential lot line, and any floodlight that is used must be aimed at least 45 degrees down from vertical with glare shields added to cut spillover. A site plan with a detailed lighting plan, including fixture type, wattage, and mounting height, is required before Planning and Inspections will approve outdoor lighting on a nonresidential parcel.

Because sign regulation and lighting regulation sit in separate UDO articles but apply together to an illuminated billboard, an applicant must satisfy both standards at once.