Although many people put much more focus on the digital end of marketing, your signage is still vital for your business. Custom signs, exterior signs, and even street signs can have a huge impact on how much foot traffic you experience in a day. However, not everything is okay within your city’s ordinances. Nearly all cities have limits on what you can or cannot display in your signage.
Common City Restrictions
Cities aren’t looking to make it difficult for businesses to attract customers. But they do want to make sure that people aren’t bothered, and drivers aren’t distracted because of signage. Typically cities will limit the number of custom signs in a region. They may even restrict the use of signage to commercial and industrial areas.
For example, the city of Tampa, FL, allows only one freestanding sign per parcel that has street frontage. That restriction goes on to say that additional signs are allowed if they are more than 300 feet apart from the initial freestanding signs. And that those additional signs all be at least 300 feet apart in a continuous line.
Other common restrictions include height restrictions, meaning that a sign mounted on a building cannot exceed the top of the building by so many inches. Some cities or towns restrict the size of signs mounted on buildings as well.
Know Your Sign Types
There are freestanding signs, building signs, monument signs, projecting signs, marquee or awning signs, directional signs, and more. Your business will likely need more than one sign type.
Knowing which custom signs you need to be designed and installed can help you navigate the city sign ordinances that affect you. It’s always a bother when you’re faced with mountains of information when you only actually need three or four sections of it to make a decision.
Contact Your City Office
If you’re ever in doubt, or can’t find your city’s ordinances online, then you should contact your office. The people working in your city office can be a substantial resource to you and your business. While they may only be able to point you in the right direction, it’s well worth asking for help on this matter, rather than dealing with city fines later.
Discuss Options with a Custom Sign Designer
After you’ve done some cursory research, contact a designer for your custom commercial signs. Designers frequently work with city restrictions. They can help you understand some of the phrasings which may apply to different sign types or specific restrictions.
To start designing your custom signs, reach out to GraphPlex, a key designer, developer, and installer of a wide variety of signage.
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