Shoreline, WA Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Signage for a home-based business in Shoreline is addressed inside the home occupation standards of Chapter 20.40 SMC rather than as a stand-alone sign ordinance. SMC § 20.40.400(I) exempts a single home occupation sign from the City's sign permit process as long as it is no larger than four square feet; the sign can be mounted on the house itself, on a fence, or installed freestanding on the property in a monument style. That exemption is narrow: it covers exactly one sign at or under the four-square-foot threshold.

A resident who wants a second sign, a sign larger than four square feet, or a different style of sign must instead obtain a permit under Chapter 20.50 SMC, the City's general development standards chapter that governs signs, lighting, landscaping and design citywide. The sign allowance sits inside the broader home occupation framework of SMC § 20.40.400, which also caps the business to 25 percent of the dwelling's floor area, limits it to two nonresident employees, requires indoor operations, restricts sales and services to appointment or off-site delivery, and requires a City business license under Chapter 5.05 SMC.

Planning and Community Development reviews home occupation compliance, including signage, as part of Development Code administration, and an oversized or unpermitted sign is treated as a Code Violation subject to the notice-and-order process in SMC § 20.30.760.