Lee County, NC Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

UDO § 11.7.16 defines a window sign broadly to include any sign placed or painted on the interior or exterior of glass windows or doors that faces a public street or other public location, including common public parking areas inside a shopping center. Because window signs are grouped with the no-permit signs of article 11's § 11.7, businesses do not need to apply for a sign permit to post them, but the section caps coverage at no more than 30 percent of the glass area of the respective storefront.

That 30 percent ceiling is a hard line: the same section specifies that a window sign covering more than 30 percent of the glass is no longer treated as an exempt window sign at all but is instead considered a wall sign, which must then meet the size, height, and number limits set out for wall signs in the applicable zoning district's table under §§ 11.8.2 and Tables 11-1 through 11-4. In practice, this means a retailer papering over most of a storefront window with sale graphics or a temporary promotional wrap risks being cited for an unpermitted wall sign rather than a compliant window display.

The Department of Community Development enforces the distinction, and because window signs are exempt from the general sign area computation in § 11.4 as long as they stay within the 30 percent threshold, businesses have an incentive to measure their storefront glass carefully. Storefronts in shopping centers face the same rule for windows or doors that face the interior common parking area, not just the public street, which extends the coverage limit to interior-facing retail bays as well as street-facing ones.