Margate, FL Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

The window sign standard sits in Section 40.706 of the Margate Land Development Code, the Signage article. It sets one overall cap: the total area of all window signs, whether interior, exterior or illuminated, can be no greater than twenty-five percent of the total window area of each frontage, including glass doors. That cap is measured per frontage, so a corner tenant counts each street side separately.

Interior window signs must be located within ten feet of the window and must be nonilluminated. Exterior window signs must be constructed from vinyl, and they cannot be applied to or cover any divider between individual panels in a window, so lettering has to stay inside each pane.

Illuminated window signs, neon included, get their own limits. Each occupied business premises can have two illuminated signs, installed inside the premises, and each sign cannot exceed four square feet. The total area of illuminated signs in a window cannot exceed twenty-five percent of the window area per window, and that area also counts toward the frontage-wide twenty-five percent cap. No flashing or strobe illumination is permitted. An illuminated window sign that is not battery operated needs a permanent power source that has been professionally installed and permitted by the Margate Building Department.

Two related rules keep storefronts from being blocked out. Neon, LED, rope lighting, window outlining and similar lighting devices are allowed when professionally installed inside a business, and that lighting does not count toward window sign area. Sunscreening film or tint on nonresidential windows and glass doors cannot make them nontransparent, and it is held to the solar reflectance and light transmittance limits in F.S. § 316.2953. Tint counts toward window sign coverage only when it displays lettering or images. Elsewhere in the same section, interior window signs are among the items excused from certain permit paperwork, and the code bars sign materials such as cardboard or paper except for interior window signs.