Janesville, WI Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Section 28-200 of the Janesville Code of General Ordinances exempts window signs, defined by location as any sign on the inside of a window, from every provision of Chapter 28 except two specific conditions. First, window signs are not permitted at all in any area where the use of the land is residential, so a residentially zoned property cannot rely on this exemption to post interior window advertising the way a commercial storefront can. Second, if a window sign needs an electrical connection beyond simply being plugged into an outlet, such as a hard-wired neon or LED display, the sign owner must obtain an electrical permit before installing it.

Outside of those two conditions, a business in a nonresidential district can place window signage without a sign permit, without a size cap tied specifically to windows, and without the sign-district or spacing rules Chapter 28 applies to freestanding, projecting, wall and roof signs elsewhere in the article. That puts window signs in the same broad exempt-but-conditioned category as banners, real estate signs and sandwich boards, each of which the code frees from the general permitting scheme while still attaching its own narrow conditions. The general regulations in Sections 28-139 through 28-141, barring placement on public property, interference with traffic signs, and unsafe construction, continue to apply to window signs the same as to every other sign type in the City.