Owensboro, KY Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

The joint Owensboro-Daviess County Zoning Ordinance does not carve out a separate sign category for home occupations; instead it folds them into the 'residence sign' definition in Appendix F Section 9-2, which covers 'an on-premises sign located where the primary use of the property is residential, including home occupations, bed and breakfast homes, and parking areas that are accessory to residential uses.' That means a home-based business advertises under the same numeric limits as any residential sign, not the larger allowances given to standalone commercial signs in business or professional zones.

Section 9-5(d), titled 'Permanent Residence Signs,' caps the area of each sign at two square feet within the city of Owensboro (properties in unincorporated Daviess County or Whitesville get a four-square-foot allowance instead). A building sign mounted on the house cannot rise above the highest point of the wall it is attached to, and a freestanding yard sign is capped at six feet in height. Where a property carries more than one sign, each separate sign must sit at least fifteen feet from the next one on the same premises.

Because a home occupation sign is a permanent on-premises sign, it does not need a sign permit under Section 9-3(c) unless it is electrical or larger than ten square feet, which a two-square-foot residence sign never is. The sign must still meet the general lighting and maintenance rules in Section 9-3(g) and 9-3(k), and the Zoning Administrator enforces those requirements alongside the home-occupation use permit itself.