You've picked the perfect monument sign design, picked your colors, and you're ready to order. Then someone asks the question that stops half of Augusta's business owners in their tracks: "Did you check the permit requirements?"
In Augusta-Richmond County, most signs do require a permit before they go up and the regulations cover more than most people expect, including things like how much of your window you can cover and how close your sign can be to your neighbor's house. Here's a plain-English walkthrough of what the city requires, what's exempt, and where business owners most often get tripped up.
First: Do You Actually Need a Permit?
In most cases, yes. Under Section 28-B of Augusta's Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, a sign permit is required from the Augusta Planning and Development Department before any sign is erected, installed, or materially altered. "Material alteration" means changing a sign's height, surface area, location, or supporting structure; or adding illumination to a sign that didn't have it.
What you can do without a permit: routine maintenance, repair, and ordinary electrical work on an existing sign.
A few common signs are exempt entirely, including:
- Small informational signs (4 sq ft or less, 3 ft tall or less, on a simple stake)
- Political signs of 32 sq ft or less (removed within 10 days after the election)
- Official flags up to 60 sq ft on poles 40 ft or shorter
- Holiday decorations that carry no commercial message
- Address signs meeting the city's size specs
- In business zones, one banner up to 24 sq ft mounted flat against the building and removed daily at close of business
What You'll Submit
A sign permit application needs three things:
- The application - identifying the sign owner, property owner, occupant, address, sign size, and any other signs on the property.
- A sign plan - a scaled drawing showing all existing and proposed signs, plus buildings, driveways, parking, and right-of-way lines. It has to show dimensions, height, setbacks, materials, and illumination. You don't need a licensed professional to prepare it (with one exception below).
- The fee - note that Augusta implemented new permitting fees effective June 9, 2025 under Georgia House Bill 461, so older fee information you find online may be out of date.
One more nice provision: once you submit, the city has five working days to approve, conditionally approve, or deny your sign plan. If they don't act within five working days, it's deemed approved.
Two exceptions that add time or requirements:
- Signs 30 feet tall or larger than 150 sq ft need plans certified by a structural engineer licensed in Georgia, plus a foundation inspection.
- Signs in locally designated historic districts - including much of downtown - also need approval from the Historic Preservation Commission. Plan extra lead time if you're on or near Broad Street.
Every permitted sign gets an official decal that must be affixed to the sign. For permanent signs, that decal stays on for the life of the sign.
The Rules That Surprise People
Even business owners who know to pull a permit are often caught by these:
Temporary signs and banners are permitted, but on a timer. A temporary sign can stay up a maximum of 30 days per calendar quarter; either 30 consecutive days or three 10-day stretches. Maximum 40 square feet per side, one per street frontage. Grand openings, sales, and seasonal promotions all fall under this, so build the clock into your marketing calendar.
Window signs are capped at 20%. In commercial zones, signs on or behind glass can't cover more than 20% of any window. In Professional zones, window signs aren't allowed at all.
Illumination has a residential buffer. Within 100 feet of a single-family home on the same street or across the street, business signs must be non-illuminated. This matters enormously when you're choosing between a lit cabinet sign and a non-illuminated one.
Freestanding signs have hard limits by zone. In General Business (B-2) zones, you can go up to 200 sq ft and 30 feet tall. Neighborhood Business (B-1) zones cap at 100 sq ft and 20 feet. Professional zones allow just 36 sq ft and 6 feet. And the same street matters: within 100 feet of a single-family residence or residential zone, the allowed size drops sharply. Setbacks apply too; at least 10 feet from the right-of-way line and 10 feet from property lines.
Building-mounted signs are measured by building width. In B-2, Light Industrial, and Heavy Industrial zones, you get 2 square feet of sign area per linear foot of building width facing the street (1 square foot per foot in B-1 zones). There's a 25% bonus if you permanently waive your right to a freestanding sign.
Some signs are simply prohibited. Signs attached to trees, utility poles, or traffic signs. Signs mounted on roofs. Flashing or strobe lights (moving message boards are the exception). And that "park the wrapped truck facing the road" trick doesn't fly either - a vehicle used as a stationary sign must have a current tag and can't sit in a front yard.
Old signs don't get a free pass forever. Legal nonconforming signs can be maintained and repaired, but not enlarged, heightened, or newly illuminated. And if a business closes, its sign is "abandoned" after 30 days - after 90 days, the permit expires and exposed parts must come down. The city also enforces actively: violations get a notice to abate, then a citation, and the city can remove problem signs at the owner's expense.
What About Columbia County or North Augusta?
Every jurisdiction in the CSRA writes its own sign rules. Columbia County (served through its Building Standards office in Evans) and North Augusta, SC each have their own ordinances with different size caps, setbacks, and processes. The rules above apply specifically to Augusta-Richmond County.
How Keen Signs Makes This Easy
This is the part we do every week. Keen Signs & Graphics designs your sign to fit the zoning rules before you've spent money on fabrication, prepares the sign plan and permit application, walks it through the city, and handles installation and inspection. We know which questions to ask about your lot, your zoning district, and your illumination options before they become expensive problems.
Whether it's a monument sign, channel letters, or a full facade package, we'll tell you honestly what will get approved and how to get the biggest, most effective sign your property allows.
Ready to plan a sign the right way? Call us at (706) 364-2151 or stop by our studio at 1467 Broad Street in downtown Augusta.
Note: This article summarizes Augusta-Richmond County's sign ordinance as of its publication date and is provided for general information, not legal advice. Fees and requirements change. Always confirm current rules with Augusta Planning & Development at (706) 821-1796, or let us handle it for you.
