Signs

Helpful Resources

  • Sign Permit Application (PDF)
  • Up to 50 square feet: $156 ($125 plus a $31 processing fee)
  • 50 to 100 square feet: $206 ($165 plus a $41 processing fee)
  • 101 to 200 square feet: $269 ($215 plus a $54 processing fee)
  • 201 to 300 square feet: $406 ($325 plus a $81 processing fee)
  • For each additional 100 square feet above 300 please add $75 to $325 and 25% to the total amount for processing fee.

When installing new signage a permit is always required.  Changes to the City's Sign Ordinance require that new signs be either individual channel letters or channel letters mounted on a raceway.

Always double-check sign requirements with the Building Inspection Department (planreview2@garlandtx.gov) prior to ordering any signage. The property you are leasing or the property you are building on may have what is referred to as a PD, and special signage requirements may be set forth for that particular property that differ from the requirements.

Bandit Signs/Temporary Signs

Whatever your terminology, temporary/bandit signage (those metal signs that you sometimes see at apartment complexes that showcase amenities) are not allowed in commercial/non-residential districts.IHOP Restaurant Sign with Walmart Supercenter and Sams Club Sign in the Background

Imitation of Traffic and Emergency Signage

No person shall cause to be erected or maintained any sign using any combination of forms, words, colors, or lights which imitate standard public traffic regulatory, emergency signs or signals.

Leasing/For Sale Signs

The leasing company or the property owner may have a leasing sign on the property where vacant space or land is available for lease or sale as long as the signs advertising the sale or lease of a business property shall not exceed 16 square feet in area or eight feet in height.

Vehicular Signs

Vehicular signs are allowed provided that they are a minimum of 20 feet from a street right-of-way on the site where the business is located (unless the use of the vehicle to which the signage is attached is used to transport goods for the business and is in the process of being loaded). If the vehicle that the signage is attached to is not used for transportation of goods for the business it is advertising, it shall be deemed a freestanding sign and subject to all provisions of the code. If the vehicle displaying a vehicular sign is stopped, parked, or allowed to remain in the same location within the site for any period exceeding 24 hours or contains arrows or any directional information relating to the business, it is deemed a freestanding sign.

Electronic Signs

No part of any sign shall flash, change its illumination, or copy, rotate, move, or create an illusion of movement, except that:

  • Time and temperature copy that can be read from public ways may be allowed, provided that no change of the time and temperature occurs more than once each three seconds or less than once each five seconds.
  • Electronic reader boards which are oriented to be read exclusively within the site and which are not visible from a public way are allowed.
  • Marquee signs which meet all the requirements of either the attached or freestanding sign provisions are allowed.