Tallahassee, FL Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Section 7-32(15) exempts "window signs which identify or advertise activities, services, goods, or products available within the building," so long as they collectively cover 20 percent or less of the window glass surface area, from the sign permit process in Article II. The word "collectively" matters: it is the cumulative coverage of every window sign on the premises that is measured, not each sign individually. Cross the 20 percent line and the signage doesn't simply need a bigger permit; § 7-81(17) reclassifies window signs covering "more than 20 percent of the window glass surface area" as a prohibited sign, one of the outright bans listed alongside snipe signs and bench signs.

Because § 7-31(a) already makes it unlawful to erect any sign without a permit unless it fits an exemption, and § 7-81 signs cannot be permitted at all, a business over the threshold has to remove or reduce coverage rather than pay a fee to legalize it. The exemption covers only signage for that building's own activities and products; it does not reach third-party or off-site advertising displayed in a window, which falls under the separate off-site sign rules in § 7-64.