San Antonio · Sign Code Ch. 28

San Antonio sign permit — why your San Antonio wall sign depends on your street class

By USSignCode Editorial · Last updated September 22, 2026 · How we check this page

San Antonio sizes your wall sign as a percentage of your building elevation — but the floor you're guaranteed depends on whether your entrance faces a collector, an arterial, or an expressway. That table-driven structure is why a single number off a frontage calculator won't cut it. Here's what actually controls your sign.

30-second risk check

No address, no measurements — just tap Yes or No. This flags where a San Antonio sign gets risky.

Do you know your street's classification (local / arterial type A or B / commercial collector / expressway)? It sets the freestanding table.

Have you sized your sign from the facade-percentage rule for your district?

Will the sign blink, flash, or have moving/animated elements?

Is your business in the River Walk area or a historic district?

Will the sign be electric or illuminated, or larger than 32 sq ft of facing?

Attached signs are a facade percentage or a flat floor, whichever is greater. Freestanding signs come off a street-class table.

City Code Chapter 28 is the binding sign code, and it splits the question in two. For attached signs, §28-47 caps the aggregate area of all attached signs at 25% of a building facade or a flat figure for each occupancy that has a separate and distinct public entrance, whichever is greater. For freestanding signs, §28-45 sets height and size from a table keyed to the classification of the street — not a percentage at all.

Street class sets the freestanding table

Chapter 28 §28-45 Table 1 sets the maximum height and size for the first freestanding sign on a lot in a nonresidential district. One freestanding sign is permitted for each 150 feet of street frontage, and every subsequent freestanding sign on the lot is capped at 75% of the allowable height and size:

Local street

16 ft tall, 75 sq ft.

Arterial Type B / Commercial collector

24 ft tall, 150 sq ft.

Arterial Type A

40 ft tall, 240 sq ft.

Expressway

50 ft tall, 375 sq ft — with a grade allowance capped at 60 ft above ground level.

Source: San Antonio City Code Chapter 28, §28-45(c) Table 1 (freestanding signs, nonresidential zoning districts). Multiple-tenant freestanding signs run on the separate Table 2 in §28-45(d), where no single tenant may exceed 375 sq ft. Read from the ordinance text on 8 September 2026.

Attached signs: the greater of 25% of the facade or the flat floor

§28-47 sizes attached signs for each occupancy that has a separate and distinct public entrance. The aggregate area of all attached signs may not exceed 25% of a building facade or the flat figure for your street group, whichever is greater.

Flat floor we have read

50 sq ft in one street group and 100 sq ft in another, each as the alternative to the 25% facade figure.

Not yet read

Which flat floor attaches to arterials type A and B / commercial collectors. We have not read that subsection, so we do not state a figure for it.

Channel letters

May not extend more than 18 inches from the facade (§28-47(e)(2)).

Source: San Antonio City Code Chapter 28, §28-47 (provisions applicable to nonresidential zoning districts). Read from the ordinance text on 8 September 2026. Correction: this page previously described the attached-sign rule as a percentage table in UDC §35-310.15 / Table 310.15-2 with guaranteed minimums of 50, 75 and 100 sq ft by street class. Chapter 28, collected in full (232,919 characters), contains no §35-310, no Table 310.15-2 and no 75 sq ft attached-sign floor — 75 sq ft is the §28-45 Table 1 freestanding size for a local street. The figures above replace it.

The rules that apply citywide

Beyond the facade table, these are confirmed in the UDC and Sign Code (Chapter 28). Use them as a sanity check before you talk to a fabricator:

The 32 sq ft line is an exception, not a threshold. §28-30(b) exempts non-electric or non-illuminated signs of 32 sq ft or less of facing, of durable material, wholly on private property and securely affixed to a building, fence or wall with frame or trim no more than 3 inches wide — and the exception does not apply in the Riverwalk Area. An electric or illuminated sign needs a permit at any size.
Attached-sign area is 25% of a building facade or a flat per-occupancy figure, whichever is greater (§28-47), for each occupancy with a separate and distinct public entrance.
No fluorescent colors, reflective surfaces, blinking lights, or rotating/moving parts are permitted on a sign.
Digital displays must have a dimmer control and a photocell that auto-adjusts to ambient light, and must stay under the code's brightness (nits) limits.
The Riverwalk Area has its own sign rules that override the standard exemptions.

Source: San Antonio City Code Chapter 28, §28-29 (permit required), §28-30 (permit exceptions) and §28-43 (digital displays). Read from the ordinance text on 8 September 2026.

⚠ Why you can't just read a number off a calculator

Attached-sign area is the greater of 25% of the building facade or the flat figure §28-47 gives your street group, and freestanding signs come off the §28-45 tables instead. Getting it wrong — or missing that your entrance faces an arterial vs a collector — means a rejected permit. Any sign over 32 sq ft needs a permit, and electrical/structural work pushes you toward a licensed contractor.

Get a free quote from a licensed San Antonio sign contractor

Skip the facade measurement and the street-class lookup. A licensed local pro confirms your exact allowance under §28-45 and §28-47 and handles the permit.

How to apply for a San Antonio sign permit

San Antonio gives you two numbers and takes the better one — but only after you know what street class your entrance faces.

1. Find the street class your entrance faces

It sets the §28-45 freestanding table row — local, arterial type B or commercial collector, arterial type A, or expressway. Missing that your entrance faces an arterial rather than a collector is what makes an application fail.

2. Measure the facade for the attached-sign cap

§28-47 caps attached signs at 25% of a building facade. Your real allowance is the greater of that percentage or your street-class minimum.

3. Test all three permit triggers, not just size

A permit is required for every freestanding sign, for every electric sign, and for a building or fence sign over 32 sq ft. Size is only one of the three — a small freestanding or illuminated sign needs a permit no matter how modest it is. A Sign Plan Review runs together with the permit, so treat them as one filing, not two stages.

4. Do not put the sign up before the permit issues

This is the expensive mistake. Starting work without a permit means the fee is doubled, and the City issues a violation notice against your contractor. An installer who offers to "go ahead and hang it while the paperwork clears" is proposing to double your cost and put their own licence at issue.

5. File with Development Services

The form to ask for is the "On-Premise Sign Permit" application, filed with the City's Development Services Department (DSD). Electrical and structural work pushes you toward a licensed contractor.

6. Know what your contractor owes you after issuance

The licensed contractor — not you — is responsible for scheduling inspections and closing the permit out. That makes two things worth checking as the owner: that inspections are actually being booked, and that any change of contractor is processed in writing, because an open permit left behind by a departed installer becomes your problem.

The three permit triggers, the Sign Plan Review pairing, the doubled fee and contractor violation notice, the application name, and the contractor's inspection and closeout duties are from City of San Antonio Development Services official permitting documents; the street-class and facade steps are from the Chapter 28 sections cited on this page. We do not publish a fee amount or a review time here. San Antonio provides a "Fee Schedule & Estimator" on the DSD pages at sa.gov that will calculate the figure for your specific sign — use that rather than any quoted number, and remember it doubles if you build first.

San Antonio sign checklist

Before you design or order anything, confirm:

What street class does my public entrance face? (§28-45 Table 1: local 75, arterial type B or commercial collector 150, arterial type A 240, expressway 375 sq ft for the first freestanding sign.)
What is 25% of my building facade, and is that more or less than the flat figure §28-47 gives my street group?
Is my sign electric or illuminated, or over 32 sq ft of facing? → outside the §28-30(b) exception, so a permit is required.
Does my sign have blinking lights, reflective surfaces, or moving parts? → prohibited.
Is it a digital display? → dimmer + photocell + nits limits required.
Am I in the Riverwalk Area? → separate, stricter rules.

Official San Antonio resources

Go straight to the city for permits and the binding code:

San Antonio Sign & Billboard Permits (Development Services) — applications, fees, and the filing route.

Collected 8 September 2026: San Antonio City Code Chapter 28 (Signs) — 232,919 characters of ordinance text, the source for every section number and figure on this page. Correction: the figures here previously came from UDC §35-310.15 and Table 310.15-2, which do not appear anywhere in Chapter 28. Not read: which flat attached-sign floor §28-47 assigns to arterials type A and B and commercial collectors; we state no figure for that tier.

I'm a new business owner and English isn't my first language — where do I start?

First find what street class your entrance faces — that sets the §28-45 freestanding table row. Then measure the facade for the §28-47 attached-sign cap of 25%. Because any sign over 32 sq ft needs a permit and the table is technical, most owners hire a licensed sign company that confirms the allowance and pulls the permit as part of the job.

Why can't this page just tell me my exact square footage?

San Antonio's attached-sign allowance is the greater of 25% of the facade or the flat figure in §28-47, while freestanding signs come off the §28-45 tables, plus Riverwalk and digital-display rules — variables that need site-specific confirmation. Anyone who gives you a single number sight-unseen is guessing. We give you the structure and the official sources so you don't get blindsided.

This is an informational guide based on the public San Antonio City Code Chapter 28 (Signs), not a permit, legal advice, or a guarantee of compliance. Attached- and freestanding-sign allowances in San Antonio depend on the facade, the street classification and the Chapter 28 tables (§28-45, §28-47), plus Riverwalk and historic overlays — variables.15-2 percentage, street class, and special-area rules that require professional confirmation. Always verify with San Antonio Development Services and a licensed sign contractor before designing, ordering, or installing a sign.

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Sources and official references: San Antonio City Code Chapter 28 — Signs, the binding ordinance and this page’s monitored source: 232,919 characters of ordinance text collected on 8 September 2026, and the origin of every section number and figure quoted here. San Antonio Sign & Billboard Permits (Development Services) for the application route. Correction, 8 September 2026: this page previously sourced its wall-sign figures to Unified Development Code §35-310.15 and Table 310.15-2. Neither appears anywhere in Chapter 28 as collected, and the 75 sq ft “arterial minimum” it carried is in fact the §28-45 Table 1 freestanding size for a local street. The figures have been replaced with the Chapter 28 text. Not read: the flat attached-sign floor §28-47 assigns to arterials and commercial collectors, and the UDC itself; no figure is stated for either.

Last inspected against the official code: June 2026 · confirm current rules with the city before you file