Olympia, WA Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

OMC 18.43.130.B.2 governs home occupation and short-term rental signs in the Residential Sign Zone. It applies only to residential properties for which the City has issued a valid City business license for home occupation or short-term rental, and it allows one permanent sign. The sign must be a wall sign placed on the facade of the primary structure, and the message can be commercial or noncommercial. The maximum size is two square feet. The sign must appear to be a secondary feature of the building facade, cannot project above the roof line of the exposed building face, and must be installed to appear flush-mounted. Internal illumination is not allowed. A temporary Open sign can be displayed discretely in a window during business hours only.

If a wall sign cannot be seen from a public street because the building is set far back, the City can approve an alternative sign size, type, or location. That review is case by case and balances the purpose of the zoning district with the needs of a home based business. In no case can the sign exceed ten square feet, or five square feet per side if freestanding and double-sided.

Table 43-8 in the same section summarizes the rule: up to two square feet, flush mounted near entrance, one per licensed Home Occupation business or short-term rental. A separate line covers a Home Occupation business abutting the west side of the 300 and 400 blocks of West Bay Drive NW: up to five square feet if flush mounted near entrance, or up to five square feet per side if freestanding, one per licensed Home Occupation business only.

Other sign rules still apply. OMC 18.43.030.A requires a permit or agreement from the City for installing a new sign. OMC 18.43.130.D.1 says all temporary signs in the Residential Sign Zone display only noncommercial copy unless otherwise allowed, and OMC 18.43.080.J.9 sends commercial uses in a residential sign zone to those residential temporary sign rules. OMC 18.43.050.N prohibits any sign over four feet high in a required yard setback.