Tonawanda, NY Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Town of Tonawanda Code § 215-34.18.J defines a window sign as a sign visible from a sidewalk, street, or other public place, painted or affixed on glass or other window material, or located inside within three feet of the window, while excluding ordinary product displays from that definition. The section's standards table sets a single numeric limit for this sign type: maximum area equal to 20% of the window area. The table's other rows, maximum number, maximum height, and minimum ground clearance, are each marked with a dash rather than a figure, meaning the code does not impose a separate count limit, height cap, or clearance requirement on window signs the way it does for freestanding types like ground or pole signs; the 20%-of-window-area cap is the operative standard.

Elsewhere in the sign article, § 215-34.16's notes state that window and temporary signs shall not count towards the maximum number of signs for any given use, so a business can post a compliant window sign without using up its allotment of other sign types such as wall or projecting signs under the by-district table. Because a window sign is defined by its location on or inside the glass rather than by a freestanding structure, the article's setback and ground-clearance provisions written for pole-mounted or ground-mounted types do not carry over to it.