Newark, OH Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

The sign chapter of the Newark zoning code defines a window sign in § 1294.01(41) as any sign not exceeding sixteen square feet that is affixed to the interior surface of a window. That definition is the only coverage limit the chapter prints for window signs: it is a cap in square feet, not a percentage of the glass, and it applies to signs on the inside of the window.

Section 1294.03(a) requires a permit before any sign is installed, erected, constructed, altered, enlarged, extended, replaced or relocated, but § 1294.03(b) lists exceptions, and item (5) is window signs. The same list exempts a sign with only the address of the building, a sign of one square foot or less on a residence stating the occupant's name, a sign of not more than one square foot on or over a show window or door announcing only the proprietor's name and the nature of the business, and a sign of not more than ten square feet on a public building or institution.

Section 1294.11(h), in the temporary signs section, repeats the rule: the installation and display of a window sign does not require a permit or an approval letter. Other temporary signs in that section, such as banner signs and portable signs, do need an approval letter from the Zoning Inspector, limited to two per calendar year for a given address or business location with at least ninety days between letters. The definition cross-references a subsection (l) of § 1294.11, but the window sign rule is printed at subsection (h).

A sign larger than sixteen square feet does not fit the definition, so the permit requirement in § 1294.03(a) and the size limits elsewhere in the chapter apply to it instead. Every window sign must still be kept in good repair under § 1294.12, and under § 1294.13 a sign that is abandoned or no longer functional must be removed within fourteen days after written notice from the Zoning Inspector or within thirty days of the cessation of the business, whichever comes first.