San Antonio, TX Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Chapter 28, Article III governs sign permitting citywide, and Sec. 28-29 makes clear that a license, insurance and a permit are the default requirement for any sign work: erecting, altering, refacing or even servicing a sign normally takes a permit obtained only by a registered or city-licensed sign contractor. Sec. 28-30 then lists the narrow set of permit exceptions, and subsection (a) is the one that covers a home business: an on-premise sign attached to a residence, apartment or mixed-use building 'used solely for home occupation purposes' is exempt from the permit requirement, but only if it is one square foot of facing or smaller and is not lit.

The code borrows its definition of 'home occupation' from Chapter 35: any activity carried out for gain by a resident, run as an accessory use inside the resident's own dwelling unit. A separate exception in Sec. 28-30(b) allows a larger non-electric sign, up to thirty-two square feet, affixed to a building, fence or wall with a frame no wider than three inches, but that exception is not limited to home occupations and does not apply in the Riverwalk Area. Even an exempt sign still has to meet the general erection-and-maintenance standards in Sec.

28-41: it must be securely fastened, kept in good repair, free of weeds and refuse around it, and it cannot sit inside the twenty-five-foot sight-triangle at a corner lot. Go over the one-square-foot cap, add illumination, or post more than one exempt sign, and the sign now needs the full Sec. 28-31 permit application, including a drawing showing type, size, shape, zoning district and location.