Charlotte, NC Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Home occupations get their sign allowance through a cross-reference: Section 15.6.H.10 of the Unified Development Ordinance says signs for a home occupation are permitted in accordance with Section 22.6.B, the Accessory Use Sign standard in the sign article. That standard applies the same way to every accessory use citywide, not just home occupations, but it's the category a home-based business in Charlotte actually falls under. Section 22.6.B allows exactly one sign, and it must be built as a wall sign, meaning it has to be flat-mounted to the building rather than freestanding, post-mounted, or a portable A-frame.

The sign face is capped at four square feet, a small fraction of the six-square-foot A-frame signs or 32-square-foot banners other commercial uses get elsewhere in Article 22. Illumination of an accessory-use sign, including a home occupation's sign, is prohibited outright, so a backlit, spotlit, or internally lit sign is not an option even at the four-square-foot size. Because this sign is exempt from the sign permit requirement under Section 22.6's general exemption for on-premise signs meeting the article's standards, a homeowner does not need to separately apply to the Planning Department for a sign permit as long as the sign stays within the one-sign, four-square-foot, unlit limits; exceeding any of those three limits pulls the sign back into the standard Section 22.4 sign permit process, which the Planning Department reviews within 15 business days of filing.