Albuquerque, NM Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

The IDO's on-premises sign standards split Albuquerque into two sign regimes: Table 5-12-2 for Residential zone districts and Table 5-12-3 for Mixed-use and Non-residential districts, with § 14-16-5-12(F)(2)(a) stating that the Mixed-use and Non-residential standards apply to all signs outside any Residential zone district unless the IDO specifies otherwise. Under Table 5-12-3, a window sign, defined in the IDO's definitions chapter as a sign on a window or door with its message or image discernible from the exterior of the building, including window wraps, cannot cover more than 15 percent of a building's combined window and door area.

A separate, specific cap applies to the ground floor: within the band between 4 feet and 8 feet above ground level, window signage in that band is limited to 25 percent of that area, a rule that targets the pedestrian eye-level zone of a storefront specifically rather than the window as a whole. The standard applies per building rather than per establishment, so a multi-tenant building must track combined window coverage across all its ground-floor storefronts. Enforcement runs through the Zoning Enforcement Officer under the IDO's general sign-removal authority: a sign exceeding the coverage cap is treated the same as any other illegal sign, subject to a written notice to the owner and removal if the owner doesn't bring it into compliance.