Surry County, NC Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Surry County Code § 154.016-14(E) permits one identification sign for each home occupation operated out of a residence in the RA, RE, RR, RL, RG, CP, MHP and MR districts. The sign cannot exceed eight square feet in display area, cannot project higher than five feet above ground level, and must sit at least 15 feet back from any property line or street right-of-way. Subsection (F) of the same section makes clear that no other signage is permitted for these residential districts beyond the specific sign types the section lists, which include this single home occupation sign alongside separate allowances for subdivision entrance signs, manufactured home park signs, and institutional signs such as churches and schools.

Because home occupations are, by definition, businesses run from a dwelling, the county treats their identifying sign far more restrictively than a freestanding commercial sign in a business district: an RB district sign, for comparison, can run up to 80 square feet and 15 feet tall. A resident who wants anything beyond the single eight-square-foot sign, such as a second sign or internally lit changeable copy, needs a variance from the Board of Adjustment rather than a routine sign permit. The Zoning Administrator reviews and approves the home occupation permit itself, and a sign that violates the size, height or setback limits is enforced as any other zoning violation under § 154.005-11, beginning with a notice of violation and a warning citation.