Cobb County, GA Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Section 134-314 of the Cobb County Code of Ordinances lists signs prohibited outright in the unincorporated county, and subsection (o) singles out window signage: permanent or temporary window signs covering more than 50 percent of the window glass surface of each pane of glass are banned. The county's sign article defines "sign" broadly in section 134-312 to expressly include window signs alongside placards, posters, banners, and painted images, so paint, vinyl decals, paper posters, and neon window units are all captured. Because the rule is measured "of each pane of glass," a multi-pane storefront is evaluated pane-by-pane: a business can cover one pane at 60 percent while leaving three others empty and still be out of compliance on that single pane, even though the average across the whole storefront is under 50 percent.

Two escape routes exist. Section 134-315(c) exempts signs "not legible from public thoroughfares...or signs within a business, office, building, or other enclosed area that are not visible from other parcels," so window displays that cannot be read from the sidewalk or street fall outside the article entirely. Section 134-313 also requires a sign permit for most signs before they're posted unless section 134-315 exempts them, so a compliant window sign may still need to go through the county's general sign-permitting and business-license process. A property owner who wants to exceed the 50 percent cap must seek a variance from the board of zoning appeals under section 134-347, showing a unique hardship tied to a physical characteristic of the property itself, since "economic or financial hardship alone may not be sufficient to support the grant of a variance."

This rule governs only the unincorporated county. Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs, and Austell each enforce their own separate sign codes for storefronts inside city limits.