Cowlitz County, WA Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

552(B)(8) sets the signage allowance for a home occupation operating in unincorporated Cowlitz County: one nonanimated, nonilluminated sign of no more than three square feet may be mounted on the home occupation structure itself, and a second sign of the same size may be installed near the adjacent road frontage to help customers find the property. 568 permits for AG-I zoned commercial and industrial developments, and it does not allow illuminated or animated signage of any kind, which rules out lighted signs, digital displays or anything with moving parts.

552(B): the business still has to stay incidental to the dwelling, cannot alter the home's outward residential appearance, and cannot generate noise, exhaust, vibration or spillover that would be inconsistent with a residential neighborhood. Because the signage standard sits inside the home occupation section rather than a separate sign chapter, a sign that exceeds three square feet, or a second sign beyond the one at the structure and one at the road, takes the business out of home-occupation status and would require the operator to pursue the property's underlying commercial or special use sign standards instead.