Haverhill, MA Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Haverhill treats a merchandise-display window sign as a temporary sign under § 6.2.4, the same category that covers construction signs, real estate signs and political signs. The temporary-sign intro sets the baseline for all of them: they're permitted anywhere in the city for no more than six months, can't be illuminated, and don't require a permit. Item 5 of that section then sets the window-sign-specific rule: a show window sign displayed in a display of merchandise when incorporated with such a display need not relate in content to that display, but its total area shall not exceed 25% of the window area through which they are viewed.

Because the sign falls under § 6.2, it also benefits from the permit exemption in § 10.1.2(2), which exempts temporary signs and signs under § 6.2 from the general building-permit requirement that otherwise applies before erecting or altering a sign. A retailer that wants a bigger or illuminated window display, or one unrelated to any merchandise on view, has to look outside the temporary-sign category to the wall or projecting sign rules elsewhere in § 6.2, which do require a permit and count against the district's overall sign-area limits.