Prince William County, VA Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Window signs are covered by Sec. 23, the general sign-permit section of the Zoning Ordinance's sign regulations, Division 2, which the Board of County Supervisors rebuilt in full through Ord. No. 19-68 in December 2019. Subsection 7 of that section lists the categories of signs that, while still subject to the substantive standards of the sign division, do not require an applicant to file a permit application with the Department of Development Services before installation. Window signs are one of those categories: subsection 7(f) allows them in commercial, office and industrial zoning districts only, and limits their combined area on any single window or glass door to 25 percent of that window's area.

The section also defines which signs actually qualify as window signs: a sign visible from outside the building that is attached to, or physically located within 18 inches in front of or behind, the glass surface of a window or door. A sign hung deeper inside a store, more than 18 inches from the glass, is not treated as a window sign and instead falls under the standard facade or interior sign rules. Because window signs are exempt from the permit requirement, a retailer does not need to submit scale drawings, sign-area calculations or an application fee to the county before installing one, but the sign must still comply with the county's general prohibited-sign list in Sec.

24 and the maintenance duties in Sec. 26, including keeping the display in good repair and replacing any sign advertising a closed business with a blank face within 60 days of the closure.