Rockingham County, VA Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Sec. 17-607(i) of the Rockingham County Zoning Ordinance sets the sign standard for a permitted 'home business,' allowing exactly one category of on-site advertising rather than banning signage outright the way the stricter 'home occupation' category next to it in the same section does. The sign itself is capped at four square feet of area, with no single dimension of the sign exceeding thirty-six inches, keeping the allowance to something closer to a nameplate or small yard sign than a commercial storefront sign. Height is separately capped at five feet, and the sign must be set back at least five feet from all property lines and from any road right-of-way, so it can't be placed close to the road edge or a neighboring parcel.

The standard is also exclusive: no other signs are permitted beyond the single four-square-foot sign described, and the code separately bars any window display of the business's products, goods or commodities, closing off a common workaround where a home-based seller might otherwise use a front window as a display case. Taken together, the size, height, setback and no-window-display rules confine a home business's visible presence to a small, unobtrusive sign, consistent with the broader standard's requirement that the business not change the dwelling's exterior or store materials outdoors. A home occupation, the more restrictive category covering businesses that generate no customer traffic at all, receives no equivalent sign allowance under Sec. 17-607.