Tigard, OR Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Chapter 18.435 of the Tigard Municipal Code, enforced by the Community Development Director, defines a window sign in § 18.435.015 as a sign placed on the inside of a window. A sign placed on the outside of a window is considered a wall sign, so it follows the wall sign measurement and area rules instead of the window rules. Section 18.435.060.A.6 lists window signs among the signs that do not require a sign permit. The exemption still carries conditions: window signs must comply with all other applicable regulations of the chapter, and under § 18.435.060.B every exempted sign must be placed on private property with the consent of the property owner.

The coverage cap sits in the base zone regulations. Section 18.435.130.F applies to the TMU, MUC and MUR zones and the MU-CBD zone. Its paragraph 7 allows permit exempt signs, such as directional and window signs, but caps the total maximum sign area of all window signs at 25 percent of the gross window area on the building face. The cap counts every window sign on that building face together, not each sign on its own. The permit exemption in § 18.435.060.A.6 prints no area figure of its own, so the 25 percent limit in paragraph F.7 is the numeric coverage standard in the chapter.

Two carve-outs change which standard applies to MU-CBD land. MU-CBD properties west of Fanno Creek within the Fanno-Burnham Subarea of the Tigard Downtown Plan District follow the residential zone sign standards in § 18.435.130.A. MU-CBD properties north of Pacific Highway, or with frontage on Pacific Highway or Hall Boulevard, follow the COM zone sign standards in § 18.435.130.B.

Other limits reach window displays as well. Flashing signs of any kind, including strobe lights, are prohibited by § 18.435.070.G. Section 18.435.070.D.1 bars signs that cover, wholly or partially, any window or doorway in a manner that substantially limits access to the building in case of fire or other emergency. In the F zones a window sign can include a reader-board or electronic information sign component, and window signs are among the few sign types allowed internal lighting.