Scranton, PA Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

City Code § 445-49 governs freestanding, wall and window signs district by district, and its table sets a separate ceiling for window signs in each of four zoning categories. The table's own heading is explicit that this category covers signs 'which shall not be illuminated and shall not be permanent,' distinguishing window signs from the wall, roof and freestanding categories addressed in the same section. In a Residential or Institutional District, the table limits window signs on qualifying nonresidential principal buildings, such as places of worship, schools and hospitals, or on larger residential developments of more than 20 units, to 5% of the area of the building side on which they're posted.

Move to a Commercial District other than the mixed-use D District, or to an Industrial District, and the cap rises sharply to 20% of the building-side area. A separate row for a plain Residential District, meaning uses other than those qualifying nonresidential and larger-development uses just described, allows no window signs at all beyond what § 445-48's no-permit table already exempts, which specifically calls out political signs as an example of what remains available. The D District carries the same 20% window-sign cap as the general commercial and industrial row, keeping downtown storefronts on the same standard as other commercial corridors.