Albemarle County, VA Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Section 18-4.15.5(b) lists the permanent signs a property owner can erect without going through the sign permit process, and home occupation signs are one of them, subsection (b)(4). To qualify for that exemption, two things have to be true: the lot has to carry a Class B home occupation or a major home occupation that's actually authorized in that zoning district under sections 18-4.15.9, 18-4.15.10 or 18-4.15.11, and the sign itself can't exceed four square feet in sign area. A sign that clears both tests still has to comply with every other applicable requirement of the sign ordinance, section 18-4.15, things like placement, illumination and prohibited sign characteristics under § 18-4.15.8, it just skips the permit application and the zoning administrator's up-front review.

A home occupation sign larger than four square feet, or one on a property where the home occupation itself hasn't been authorized, doesn't get the exemption and instead needs a standard sign permit under § 18-4.15.5(a), which requires an application to the Department of Community Development, a scaled schematic, and the fee set in the Article 5 fee schedule before the zoning administrator can approve it.