Sandoval County, NM Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

The county's Sign Ordinance, folded into Chapter 40 (Zoning) as Article II, sets standards for nonresidential districts under its Corridor Standards section. After listing free-standing and wall-mounted identification sign allowances for commercial and industrial uses, the section adds a specific carve-out for window advertising: notwithstanding the other sign-area allowances in that subsection, no more than two temporary signs may be painted on or otherwise displayed on the surface of any window, and each such display is capped at 30 days. The combined area of those window signs cannot exceed 25 percent of the glass area on which they appear, and whatever square footage they use is subtracted from the building's total permitted sign area rather than counted as a bonus.

This provision sits inside the nonresidential-district rules, so it governs storefronts, shops and commercial buildings in the unincorporated county rather than residential window postings. Jurisdiction is limited under Section 4 of the same ordinance to county land outside any incorporated municipality, tribal reservation or extraterritorial zone, meaning it does not reach businesses inside Rio Rancho or the Town of Bernalillo, which enforce their own municipal sign codes. General sign permits for erecting, placing or rebuilding a sign are otherwise required from the Planning and Zoning Director under Section 13, though signs of four square feet or less, standard maintenance and relocations ordered by the county are exempt from permitting under Section 12; the ordinance does not list temporary window signs among those permit exemptions.

Property owners disputing a Planning and Zoning Director decision on window-sign compliance can appeal under Section 17, and variance requests go through the Planning and Zoning Commission per Section 15.