Harford County, MD Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Code of Harford County § 267-33I(2)(a), governing the RR, R1, R2, R3 and R4 Residential Districts, allows a home occupation exactly one lighted sign, not exceeding 2 square feet in area, attached flat against the building. The identical limit appears in § 267-33I(1)(f) for the Agricultural (AG) District, so the 2-square-foot, building-mounted, single-sign rule follows a home business regardless of whether the property sits in a residential or agricultural zone. The sign right is tied to the underlying use approval: it applies "in conjunction with approved professional or home occupations," meaning the home occupation itself must already be a permitted or approved use under the zoning code before the sign is allowed at all.

Because the sign must be mounted flat against the building, freestanding yard signs, post-mounted signs or portable signs advertising a home business are not authorized under this provision; the operator's only sign option is a small, wall-mounted, lighted placard. This sits well below the general commercial sign allowances elsewhere in § 267-33, such as the 16-square-foot externally lighted commercial sign permitted for other agricultural-lot businesses, underscoring that home occupation signage is deliberately kept minimal so a home-based business does not visually announce itself the way a standalone commercial use would in a residential neighborhood.