Mesa, AZ Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Mesa City Code § 11-31-33(A)(5) is the operative signage standard for every home occupation in the city's Residential, Commercial, Mixed-use, and Downtown Districts. The rule starts from a blanket prohibition: there shall be no exterior indication of a nonresidential use at a home occupation site. The single carve-out is one non-illuminated, static sign no larger than three square feet in area, which may either be attached to the building or placed in a window. That means no freestanding yard signs, no illuminated or animated signage, no larger banners, and no second sign even if the first is compliant, the section allows exactly one.

The restriction sits inside the same subsection as the home occupation's other 'stay invisible' standards: no exterior storage or display of materials, goods, or equipment, and no day-long or long-term parking tied to the business. Elsewhere in the Zoning Ordinance's sign standards, non-residential land uses that qualify for an increased sign allowance are expressly told that bump does not apply to Home Occupations authorized under § 11-31-33, confirming the three-square-foot cap is a hard ceiling with no larger-sign path available to a home-based business, regardless of what the general commercial sign rules allow next door.