Rochester, NY Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

The 25% window-coverage limit sits in § 120-177F, the Zoning Code's general design standards for signs, immediately after the provision permitting neon window signs "in cases where they are compatible with the building's use, historic and/or architectural character" under § 120-177F(10). Rochester last amended the window-sign rule on 7-19-2011 by Ordinance No. 2011-247, effective 9-1-2011, after an earlier revision on 9-21-2010 by Ordinance No. 2010-323. The 25% figure measures the area of an individual window, not the storefront as a whole, so a business with several display windows must keep each one at or under a quarter coverage rather than averaging across the whole frontage.

5 square feet per foot of frontage, but any window sign within that allowance still has to satisfy the separate 25%-of-window ceiling. The Director of Zoning and Permitting reviews compliance as part of any certificate of zoning compliance application, and the broader design standards also bar movable or portable signs, strings of lights, and blinking or flashing displays unless they are defined and approved as temporary signs.