Dougherty County, GA Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

The Dougherty County sign ordinance treats window signs differently depending on a business's closing time. Section 2-13.3-31(a)(17) lists among prohibited signs any "window signs which identify or advertise activities, services, goods, or products available within the building, and which collectively cover more than ten (10) per cent of the window glass surface area, when the business or establishment has normal, regular or standard working hours extending beyond 11:00 p.m." The companion exemption at Section 2-13.3-31(b)(15) allows the same category of window sign "so long as the business or establishment has normal, regular or standard working hours not extending beyond 11:00 p.m.", with no stated percentage ceiling for that earlier-closing group.

In practice, a late-night gas station, restaurant, or convenience store in the unincorporated county must keep its combined window signage, including posters and product decals facing the street, at or under ten percent of the total window glass surface, while a shop that closes by 11:00 p.m. is exempt from that cap and needs no permit for the window signs themselves. Window signs are separate from the permanent on-site sign allowances of Section 2-13.3-32, which govern ground and wall signs by zoning district; the ten-percent rule applies specifically to interior displays viewed through glass. The Albany-Dougherty Planning and Development Services building official enforces the article.