8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352 Open daily 7 AM to 10 PM Calls and texts: (818) 806-9006
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Burbank sign permits: What the City Allows and How the Review Works

Burbank sign permits come from the City of Burbank, not from LADBS. Almost any business sign that goes up, changes, moves or comes down needs one from the Building Division, after Planning checks it against zoning. Below: size limits, banned signs, the steps and the city's own review times, each with its source.

8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley · Open daily 7 AM–10 PM

Check My Address Call (818) 806-9006

Burbank reviews signs its own way. Send the address: a person at our Sun Valley shop replies in writing with the rules that likely apply. Information, not an approval.

Text a storefront photoBurbank sign rules, explained How long it takes

Illustration: dark green dimensional letters spelling FLORA on a cream stucco storefront with tall windows and palm trees
Illustration: Cut-out letters. Burbank measures their area inside the outline around the letters, and that area counts toward the parcel's sign total.

The short answer

Do I need a permit for a sign in Burbank?

Nearly always. Burbank's sign ordinance, Title 10, Article 10 of the municipal code, says no one may put up, enlarge, alter, repair, move or take down a sign without a sign permit from the Building Division, plus a building permit when the Building Code calls for one.

Burbank is its own city, so City of Los Angeles rules don't apply here. Planning checks your sign against Burbank's zoning, and the Building Division issues the permit. If the address is in Sun Valley or North Hollywood, read the Los Angeles sign permit guide instead.

City of Burbank: when a sign needs a permit

Usually needs a permit

  • A new sign Wall, ground, projecting, roof, awning or marquee.
  • Lit (illuminated) signs Light from inside or behind is fine. Signs where LEDs, neon or bulbs form the letters are banned, with narrow exceptions.
  • Enlarging, altering or repairing a sign
  • Moving or taking down a sign
  • Promotional banners A separate Temporary Banner Permit: 14 days each, two a year per business.

Usually doesn't

  • New copy on a sign insert In an existing permitted sign, with no structural change.
  • Signs on the inside of windows Up to 25% of each window facing a street or parking area.
  • Real estate signs and flags Within the code's limits. A flagpole may still need a building permit.
  • Interior signs Meant only for people inside. They fall outside the sign code.
  • Official notices and government signs

From the Burbank Municipal Code, Title 10, Article 10 (sections 10-1-1002, 10-1-1003, 10-1-1012 and 10-1-1013). General information for the City of Burbank, not an approval. Zone rules and landlord criteria can be stricter.

Check My Burbank Address

Send the sign address and what you have in mind. A person at our Sun Valley shop replies in writing: whether the address is in Burbank, which zone rules likely apply, and what the city usually asks for.

Useful for a Burbank check

  • A straight-on photo of the wall or the spot for a ground sign
  • Your street frontage in feet, if you know it
  • Your landlord's sign criteria and your share of the sign area
  • For new faces: a photo of the existing sign

Email photos to hello@angelssigns.com with the address in the subject.

Street address in Burbank, or cross streets

Sign type Optional

New or existing Optional

We need an email for now so your request reaches our system.

A person reads every request and replies in writing. Information, not an approval: Burbank's rules change, so we confirm them for your address before anything is drawn. No payment details. We don't sell your details (privacy policy).

Rather talk? Call (818) 806-9006 or text a photo. Open daily 7 AM to 10 PM.

How a sign permit works in Burbank

Burbank splits the review between two divisions: Planning screens the sign against zoning, and the Building Division runs plan check and issues the permit. This is the order for a permanent business sign.

  1. Check the zone

    Burbank's limits change by zone. Downtown (BCC-1), the Magnolia Park zones, the Media District zones and North San Fernando Blvd each have their own numbers. The city asks applicants to contact Planning to confirm what to submit (Burbank Planning).

    Who Our shop

  2. Drawings and application

    Planning's Sign Permit Zoning Review is filed on the city's Universal Application with its sign submittal requirements. Our drawings show where the sign goes, its size and area, materials, mounting and lighting.

    Who Sign drawings: our shop

  3. Electronic submittal

    Burbank lists sign permits among the projects that need plan check, filed electronically through ProjectDox. The filer emails Building & Safety the Sign Permit Application, and the city replies within three to seven business days (Building Permits). Plan check fees are due as soon as the upload invitation arrives (Plan Check Review).

    Who Licensed partner

  4. Zoning Pre-Clearance

    Planning screens the plans against the zoning code in the first 48 to 72 hours. Incomplete plans, an unclear description or a scope that needs a Planning entitlement stop the file here (Plan Check Review).

    Who Planning Division

  5. Building plan check

    Building & Safety reviews the plans. Its corrections arrive only after every department has finished, as one resubmit task. The filer answers them and uploads revised sheets under the same file names (Plan Check Review). The city also publishes a Sign Correction List (Burbank forms).

    Who Building & Safety

  6. Permit, then install

    Fees can be paid online or at the Building counter, 150 N. Third Street, and the Building Division issues the permit. Once it's up, the sign must be marked with the name of whoever put it up or owns it, and its weight (BMC 10-1-1016).

    Who Licensed partner

How long each step takes

How long does a sign permit take in Burbank?

These are the times the City of Burbank publishes for its own review. They are the city's estimates, not dates we or any sign company can set.
StageWhat the city saysSource
ProjectDox accessThe Building Division contacts the applicant within three to seven business days of the access request.Building Permits
Zoning Pre-ClearancePlanning screens the plans in the first 48 to 72 hours of review.Plan Check Review
First Building & Safety reviewCan take up to eight weeks. The timeline gets clearer once a plan checker is assigned.Plan Check Review
RechecksTwo to four weeks each. Other departments set their own timelines.Plan Check Review
CorrectionsSent once every department has finished its review, as a single respond-and-resubmit task.Plan Check Review
New copy on a permitted signNo permit and no fee, so no permit wait, as long as no structural part changes.BMC 10-1-1003
Promotional bannerA Temporary Banner Permit lasts 14 days. One banner per street address at a time, two permits per business a year.BMC 10-1-1013

A landlord sign-off normally comes before the city file opens. Glendale, Pasadena and the City of Los Angeles each run separate reviews on separate clocks.

How big can a sign be in Burbank?

Limits for commercial and industrial zones, from Burbank Municipal Code Title 10, Article 10. Every wall, ground, projecting, roof and awning sign on a parcel counts toward one total. Sign programs and landlord criteria can be tighter than the code.
See It at Burbank's Allowed Size

General information, not an approval. We check the numbers against your frontage, zone and landlord criteria.

Total sign area
3 sq ft per foot of street frontage in most commercial and industrial zones. Corner lots: 3 sq ft per foot of the narrowest frontage, plus 1 sq ft per foot of the other frontage.
Downtown and Magnolia Park
2 sq ft per foot of street frontage in the BCC-1 (Downtown Commercial) and MPC-1 zones. Magnolia Park also caps wall signs: one per street frontage in MPC-1, two in MPC-2 and MPC-3.
Facing a parking lot
Extra wall signs facing a parking area with a customer entrance: up to 1 sq ft per foot of building frontage on that lot, or 2 sq ft in BCC-1 and MPC-1.
How area is measured
Copy and background together. For cut-out letters, the area inside the outline around the letters counts (BMC 10-1-203).
Window signs
On the inside of the glass, up to 25% of each window facing a street or parking area. No permit needed.
Wall signs
No higher than the eave, the roof or the highest parapet next to the sign. Outside Magnolia Park, a narrow exception exists for incombustible or approved plastic signs.
Ground signs
Most zones: one per parcel, up to 25 ft tall, two faces of up to 50 sq ft each, set back 5 ft from the front and side lot lines. Magnolia Park allows 4 to 6 ft tall and 20 to 30 sq ft per face.
Projecting (blade) signs
Over a public right-of-way 20 ft or wider: 6 in if the bottom is under 8 ft up; 1 ft at 8 ft, and in some zones 6 in more per extra foot, up to 5 ft. Over a narrower right-of-way: nothing below 14 ft, then 6 in.
Roof signs
No more than 15 ft above the parapet or the roof under them. Not allowed in Media District zones.
Awning signs
Up to 1 ft tall, and only on an awning less than 14 ft above the ground. In Magnolia Park, also up to 4 ft wide and two per awning.

Sign types with Burbank notes

Sign-type photos are illustrations, not our projects.

Signs Burbank bans or limits

Some sign types are out in Burbank at any size, and a few locations add rules of their own. Rule these out before the mockup.

  • Signs that light themselves

    Message boards, screens and video boards are banned, and so is any sign where bulbs, neon tubes or LEDs form the text, image or border. Lighting a sign from inside or outside is fine. Exceptions: drive-through signs approved with a Conditional Use Permit, and legally required price displays (BMC 10-1-1004).

  • Blinking, moving, inflatable

    Signs that blink or flash, signs with moving or rotating parts, inflatables, images projected onto walls or the sky, and pennants are prohibited (BMC 10-1-1004).

  • Lit signs near homes

    Within 500 ft of a residential zone, measured in front of the sign face, a lit sign may be no brighter than 100 footlamberts, and its light source must stay out of view from the residential zone (BMC 10-1-1010).

  • North San Fernando Blvd

    Between the 5 freeway and Burbank Blvd, pole-supported ground signs and fully lit box signs are banned, and monuments can be up to 10 ft wide, 18 ft tall and 100 sq ft per face. Lit signs there use outside lights, backlit cut-out letters, neon tubes or internally lit channel letters (BMC 10-1-2711).

  • Near a freeway

    Within 500 ft of a freeway right-of-way, the Building Official issues a sign permit only if the sign won't be a hazard to freeway traffic (BMC 10-1-1015).

  • Asking for an exception

    A variance from the sign rules goes to the Planning Commission. The city's fee page lists the sign variance application at over $13,000, so designing within the code is usually the better path.

Who files it

Who files a sign permit in Burbank?

Burbank's Building Division issues the sign permit after plan check, and the file moves through the city's ProjectDox system. The CSLB describes a C-45 sign contractor as one who fabricates, installs and erects electrical and non-electrical signs, including changes to existing signs.

At Angels Signs, a licensed sign-contractor partner files the permit and handles sign installation in Burbank. We prepare the drawings and keep them in step with city corrections. Your quote lists the installer's CSLB license number, and you can look up any license on the CSLB website.

How Installation Works

Who installs, how the permit fits in, and what your quote shows.

Illustration: tall pylon sign with NAILS, PIZZA, DENTAL and MARKET tenant panels at a palm-lined shopping center
IllustrationOne parcel, many tenants. In Burbank the owner splits one sign-area total among them.

Multi-tenant parcels

In Burbank, the property owner divides the sign area

Burbank sets one total sign area per commercial parcel. When a parcel has more than one business, the code says the property owner divides that area among them (BMC 10-1-1012). In a strip center or an office building, your share comes from your lease or the center's sign criteria, not straight from the code.

So the landlord comes before the city. Once you approve your mockup, we draw the sign to scale on your building for the landlord's sign-off. Planning also lists a separate review for sign programs (Burbank fees).

Ask your landlord for

  • Your share of the parcel's sign area, in sq ft
  • The parcel's street frontage, in feet
  • The sign criteria or sign program
  • Where your sign may go, and whether there's power there
Start With a Photo

Send the landlord's criteria with your photo.

Coming from Burbank? Visit the shop in Sun Valley

Comparing sign companies around Burbank? Our signs are designed and built at the Angels Print shop, 8511 Lankershim Blvd in Sun Valley, on the City of LA side of the line. Bring your Burbank paperwork and see samples before you decide, or see every way to reach us.

  • See samplesLetter and material samples you can hold, so you pick the finish before the drawings go to the city.
  • Bring the paperworkYour landlord's sign criteria, a photo of the building and any old sign permit.
  • Call aheadSo the right person is there when you arrive.
8511 Lankershim Blvd Sun Valley, CA 91352

Open daily 7 AM to 10 PM

Get Directions Call ahead: (818) 806-9006

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Keep reading

Burbank sign permit questions

Still deciding? Call (818) 806-9006 or text a photo and ask.

Do I need a permit for a business sign in Burbank?
Almost always. Burbank requires a sign permit from the Building Division to put up, enlarge, alter, repair, move or take down a sign, plus a building permit when the Building Code calls for one. Exceptions include new copy on an existing permitted sign insert, signs on the inside of windows and interior signs meant only for people inside.
Does LADBS issue sign permits in Burbank?
No. Burbank is a separate city with its own sign code, Title 10, Article 10 of the Burbank Municipal Code. Planning screens the sign for zoning and the Building Division issues the permit. LADBS covers the City of Los Angeles, including Sun Valley and North Hollywood: see the Los Angeles sign permit guide.
How long does a sign permit take in Burbank?
Burbank says Planning screens plans in the first 48 to 72 hours, the first Building & Safety review can take up to eight weeks, and each recheck two to four weeks. The landlord's sign-off usually comes first, and only the city sets its own dates.
How much does a sign permit cost in Burbank?
City fees come from two places. Planning lists its Sign Permit Zoning Review at $145.08 in the 2026–27 fee list, and the Building Division charges plan check and permit fees set by the Burbank Fee Resolution. Those are city fees, not our price. Each quote states whether those city fees are in it or billed separately.
Can I put new faces in my old sign without a permit?
Often, yes. Burbank needs no permit or fee to change the copy of a sign insert in an existing permitted sign, as long as no structural part changes. A new cabinet, a bigger sign or a move needs a permit.
Do I need a permit for a grand opening banner in Burbank?
Yes. A promotional banner needs a Temporary Banner Permit from Community Development, with a fee and a refundable deposit. Each permit lasts 14 days, a business gets two a year, only one banner may hang at a street address at a time, and most banners are capped at 30 sq ft (BMC 10-1-1013).
Are LED neon and digital signs allowed in Burbank?
Mostly not, outside. The code bans electronic and digital displays, and signs where neon tubes or LEDs form the text, image or border; LEDs that light a sign from inside or behind are fine. A sign inside meant only for people inside falls outside the sign code, but a neon or LED neon sign aimed at the street through a window isn't covered by that exemption. The North San Fernando zone lists neon tube lighting among its allowed methods, so ask about your address.
Can my sign go on a neighboring property in Burbank?
No. A sign for a business, service or product that isn't offered on that property is an advertising sign under BMC 10-1-203, and Burbank prohibits advertising signs and structures in all zones (BMC 10-1-1002). Your sign goes on the parcel where the business is. Information, not an approval.

Find out what fits your Burbank frontage

Send the Burbank address and a straight-on photo. We work out the zone and the frontage numbers, then show your sign on your building.
Get My Free Mockup & Quote Call (818) 806-9006 Text a storefront photo

Free: 1 mockup + 1 round of changes per location for business-sign requests. Extra rounds are billed. Burbank rules here are general information, not an approval.

8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352Open daily 7 AM to 10 PMGet directions