Alpharetta, GA Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Home business signage in the City of Alpharetta is governed by UDC Section 2.3.3.A.11, one of the twelve conditions that make a home occupation lawful. The rule is written as a near-total ban with one narrow carve-out: 'No nameplate or sign shall be displayed upon the dwelling unit or structure on the premises except 1 unlighted sign not exceeding 1 square foot in area and located not less than 20 feet from any property line.' That single permitted sign cannot be illuminated at all, must stay at or under one square foot, and has to sit back at least 20 feet from every property line, not just the front.

The same subsection separately bars displaying merchandise or articles 'in such a way as to be visible from outside the dwelling unit,' and specifically prohibits leaving a garage door open when the garage stores business-related materials, closing off another common way home businesses might otherwise advertise. Because the sign standard sits inside the general Home Occupations conditions rather than the City's separate sign ordinance, it applies uniformly to every home occupation in every residential zoning district, regardless of business type, and does not vary by lot size or street frontage the way commercial sign standards elsewhere in the UDC do.