8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352 Open daily 7 AM to 10 PM Calls and texts: (818) 806-9006
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Glendale, CA permit guide

Sign Permits and Sign Rules in Glendale

A Glendale sign permit comes from the City of Glendale, not from LADBS. Its sign code says nearly every business sign, banners included, needs a permit before it goes up, changes or moves. Below is what the code and the city's permit guidance ask for, each rule linked to its source.

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

Check My Address Call (818) 806-9006

Glendale reviews signs its own way. Send the address: a person at our Sun Valley shop replies in writing with what likely applies. Information, not an approval.

Text a storefront photoGlendale sign rules, explained Sign programs

Illustration: black individual letters spelling BAKERY on a white brick storefront, with no panel behind them
Illustration: Individual letters with no panel behind them. Glendale's code measures the rectangle around each letter, not one box around the word.

The short answer

Do I need a sign permit in Glendale?

Almost always. Under GMC § 30.33.050, nobody may put up, alter or move a sign in Glendale, banners included, without first getting a permit from the city's building official. Repair and upkeep of a sign that already meets the code need no permit.

LADBS has no role here, and Glendale's short list of exemptions is its own. An exempt sign still has to meet the rest of the sign code.

City of Glendale: when a sign needs a permit

Usually needs a permit

  • A new permanent sign Wall, ground, projecting, marquee and awning signs.
  • Altering or moving a sign The code names "alter or relocate" outright.
  • Lit (illuminated) signs Outside lights aimed at a wall sign also need the Community Development director's approval.
  • Lit window signs Only unlit window signs are exempt.
  • Banners, temporary ones included Most banners are banned anyway (see below).

Usually doesn't

  • Repair and upkeep of a sign that meets the code
  • Unlit window signs Inside the glass, no more than 25% of any window.
  • Identification signs up to 2 sq ft Name, address and use of the premises only.
  • Changeable copy Such as the letters on a theater marquee.
  • Temporary signs other than banners Never lit; ground or wall signs only.

From the Glendale Municipal Code, § 30.33.050, § 30.33.060, § 30.33.200 and § 30.33.210. General information for the City of Glendale, not an approval. A sign program or landlord criteria can be stricter.

Check My Glendale Address

Send the Glendale address and anything you already have. Someone at our Sun Valley shop looks up the zone and writes back: whether the site likely has a sign program, which limits usually apply, and what the city's application asks for.

Helpful if you have it

  • A straight-on photo of the wall
  • The building's sign program or your landlord's sign criteria
  • The property owner's name, since Glendale's application asks for the owner, not the tenant
  • A photo of the old sign, for a change or a new face

Email photos and documents to hello@angelssigns.com with the address in the subject, or text them with the link under the form.

Street address in Glendale, or cross streets

Sign type Optional

New or existing Optional

Sign program Optional

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

A real person reads it and answers in writing. Information, not an approval: the City of Glendale decides. We confirm the limits for your address before drawing starts. 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.

Who reviews signs in Glendale

Glendale reviews signs in-house. Which offices see yours depends on the sign, the zone and the site.

  • Building and Safety

    The building official issues the sign permit (GMC § 30.33.050). You apply online on GlendalePermits for a "Building – Sign Permit". The Permit Services Center at 633 E. Broadway, Room 101, answers permit and fee questions.

  • Planning

    Planning staff help interpret the sign standards and the zone. The Director of Community Development approves sign programs, outside lighting on wall, marquee and projecting signs, and signs that project over the public right-of-way.

  • Design review

    Creative signs, allowed only in the DSP and CR zones, go through design review and can depart from the usual size and number limits. In a historic district overlay zone, the Historic Preservation Commission reviews them (GMC Ch. 30.47).

  • Public Works

    Issues the yearly permit for A-frame (pedestrian) signs where they're allowed. Banners over a public street go through Public Works too, and only for city events or goals.

How a Glendale sign permit works

Glendale's own Permit Application Guidance lists the steps for commercial signs. Here they are in order, with who usually handles each one.

  1. Zone and sign program

    Look up the zone on the city's zoning map and ask the owner whether the site has an approved sign program. A new program goes to the Director of Community Development first: Glendale won't accept plan check for work that needs design review until the plans match the approval (GMC § 30.47.030).

    Who You and our shop

  2. Business registration

    The business applies and pays for its Glendale Business Registration Certificate before the sign permit goes in.

    Who You

  3. Sign drawings

    The city's list: a site plan with the sign locations, your tenant space and, for a wall sign, your frontage; fully dimensioned elevations of every sign; and sign details such as copy, dimensions and installation.

    Who Sign drawings: our shop

  4. Apply online

    A "Building – Sign Permit" on GlendalePermits, with the property owner's information, not the tenant's. A filer who isn't the owner needs the owner's GlendalePermits account email to add them.

    Who Licensed partner

  5. Review, permit, install

    The city reviews the plans and issues the permit. After the sign goes up, inspections are booked on GlendalePermits under "Request Inspection".

    Who City, then the licensed partner

What the code allows

Glendale sign rules, explained

Limits for business signs from Glendale's sign ordinance, GMC Chapter 30.33. Where two sections differ, the stricter one governs (§ 30.33.030). Your zone, a sign program or an overlay zone can change the numbers. City of LA addresses follow LADBS rules instead: see the Los Angeles guide.
See It at the Allowed Size

General information, not an approval. Your mockup is sized to the limits that apply at your address.

Wall signs: how many
Each ground-floor business gets one wall sign on each wall facing a street, alley, mall or parking area, and no more than one per street, alley, mall or parking area. Second-floor businesses get the same allowance.
Wall signs: how big
Up to 1 sq ft for each foot of the business's own frontage on that wall, and never less than 20 sq ft per business. Frontages can't be added together to make one bigger sign.
Wall signs: placement
Built into the wall, flat on it, or no more than 10 inches out. At most 2 ft above the parapet or eave line, with no more than half the sign's height above it.
Letters measured one by one
Individual letters with no background panel count as the sum of the rectangles around each letter, not one box around the whole word (§ 30.33.100).
Lighting: what the words mean
In Glendale's code (§ 30.33.020), "direct" lighting means lights outside the sign shining on it, and "indirect" means the light source is inside the sign. Outside lights on a wall sign need the Community Development director's approval, with fixtures hidden, recessed or decorative, and no glare onto neighbors.
Projecting (blade) signs
One per ground-floor business, up to 6 sq ft and 6 inches thick, with 8 ft of clearance below and 10 ft from any other projecting sign on the building. The DSP, TOD, IMU-R and SFMU zones allow 12 sq ft and 12 inches. Outside those four zones, a blade sign may only be lit from outside.
Ground (monument) signs
One per street frontage, two per site at most. 1 sq ft per foot of site frontage, with a total cap of 40 sq ft in C1 (and the DSP's East Broadway district), 75 sq ft in C2 and 200 sq ft in other zones. Up to 6 ft tall in C1, 8 ft in C2 and 25 ft in most other zones, and no wider than 20 ft.
Window signs
Lit: one per window, two per business, 4 sq ft each. Unlit: on the inside of the glass, with all window signs together covering no more than 25% of any window. Stained glass may fill a whole window.
Awning signs
One per awning, up to 4 sq ft, only on the hanging valance, with a face no taller than 1 ft. Backlighting just the lettered part of an awning is not allowed.
High-rise signs
C3, CA, MS and DSP zones only: no lower than the sixth story, one per wall and four per building, lit only from inside.
Illustration: tall pylon sign with NAILS, PIZZA, DENTAL and MARKET tenant panels at a palm-lined shopping center
IllustrationOne site, many tenants. A sign program sets one look for every tenant's wall, ground and projecting signs.

Multi-tenant sites

Sign programs: the rule most Glendale tenants run into

A sign program is a set of design rules for the signs on one site, on top of the sign code. In most commercial, industrial and mixed-use zones, Glendale requires one where a non-residential building or addition approved after July 25, 2000 has two or more businesses, and for new businesses in buildings approved after that date. Programs in place before July 25, 2000 stay binding until a new one replaces them (GMC § 30.33.220).

A program can set where your sign goes, its construction type (box sign, channel letters, raceway, can or reverse channel letters) and how it's lit. It covers wall, high-rise, ground, marquee, under-marquee and projecting signs; window signs fall outside it. The Director of Community Development approves programs and looks for one design, mounting and lighting theme across the site (GMC § 30.47.040). Ask the owner or property manager for the program before anyone designs your sign.

Design to My Sign Program

Email the program to hello@angelssigns.com. Your mockup follows it.

Signs for property managers

Glendale rules that surprise people

Some everyday signs are banned or tightly limited in Glendale (GMC § 30.33.040). Check this list before you order anything.

  • Banners, flags and pennants

    Banned, along with display balloons, except approved creative signs, the Advertising Signage Overlay Zone, vehicle sales, leasing and rental agencies in the CA zone, and hospitals in the MS zone. A grand-opening banner usually isn't an option.

  • Animated, roof and wind signs

    Animated signs only as an approved creative sign or inside the Advertising Signage Overlay Zone. Roof signs and wind signs, such as spinners and streamers, only as an approved creative sign.

  • String lights

    Not allowed on commercial premises, except holiday decorations between November 1 and January 15.

  • A-frame signs

    Portable signs are banned. A-frame (pedestrian) signs are the exception where the code allows them, such as the DSP and TOD zones: up to 48 in tall and 30 in wide, never lit, out only during business hours, with a yearly Public Works permit.

  • The owner's written consent

    A sign on private property needs written consent from the owner, lessee, agent or trustee. Get the landlord's approval in writing before you file.

  • Overlay zones and creative signs

    Where the Advertising Signage Overlay Zone (GMC Ch. 30.26) conflicts with the sign code, its rules win. In the DSP and CR zones, a creative sign can go past size and number limits through design review.

Who does what

Who handles the Glendale permit and the install

On GlendalePermits, a permit runner may apply on behalf of a client. On Angels Signs jobs, that filer is a licensed sign-contractor partner, who also installs the sign. Our part: we check the address, size the mockup to the code and any sign program, draw the site plan, elevations and sign details the city lists, and revise them when the plan checker asks.

Glendale issues its own Contractor's Business License, and applicants must hold a valid CSLB license. Your quote lists the installer's CSLB license number; check any license on the CSLB website. Only you can supply the business's Glendale Business Registration Certificate and, if you rent, the owner's details.

Information, not an approval. The City of Glendale decides every permit.

How Installation Works

The install visit, the partner's role and what your quote lists.

Two 3D letter samples on a shop table, one gold mirror and one brushed aluminum
Our shopGold mirror and brushed aluminum letter samples, in our shop.

From Glendale to Sun Valley

Bring your sign program to our shop

Angels Signs works out of the Angels Print shop at 8511 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley. Doors are open every day, 7 AM to 10 PM. Bring the Glendale sign program or the landlord's sign criteria, and we'll read it with you at a table of real letter samples and materials.

Directions from GlendaleVisit the shop

Keep reading

Glendale sign permit questions

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

Does a business sign in Glendale need a permit?
Almost always. The Glendale Municipal Code requires a permit from the building official to put up, alter or move a sign, banners included. The exemptions are few: unlit window signs, identification signs of 2 sq ft or less, changeable copy, and temporary signs other than banners.
Is a new face on an existing sign exempt in Glendale?
Don't count on it. Glendale needs no permit for repair and upkeep of a sign that meets the code, but altering a sign needs one, and the exemption list doesn't mention new faces. A sign program can also limit what the new face looks like. Ask the city's Permit Services Center before you order, and don't go by City of Los Angeles rules here.
What is a sign program in Glendale?
A set of design rules for the signs on one site, on top of the sign code: where signs go, how they're built and how they're lit. Glendale requires one on many multi-tenant sites with buildings or additions approved after July 25, 2000. The Director of Community Development approves it, and the wall, ground and projecting signs on the site must follow it.
How big can my wall sign be in Glendale?
Usually 1 sq ft for each foot of your own frontage on that wall, and never less than 20 sq ft per business. Individual letters count as the sum of the rectangles around each letter. A sign program or an overlay zone can change those numbers, and your mockup is drawn to the ones that apply at your address.
Can my sign be lit in Glendale?
Yes, within limits. Glendale's code calls outside lights shining on a sign "direct" lighting and light inside the sign "indirect". Outside lights on a wall sign need the Community Development director's approval. Blade signs outside the DSP, TOD, IMU-R and SFMU zones may only be lit from outside, and high-rise signs only from inside. A sign program can also set the lighting method.
Can I hang a grand-opening banner in Glendale?
Usually not. Glendale bans banners, flags and pennants except approved creative signs, the Advertising Signage Overlay Zone, vehicle sales, leasing and rental agencies in the CA zone, and hospitals in the MS zone. Where a banner is allowed, it still needs a permit.
How much does a sign permit cost in Glendale?
Glendale sets its fees in a Citywide Fee Schedule adopted on June 23, 2026, and many of those fees took effect on July 1, 2026. There's no single flat sign fee to quote here. The Permit Services Center can tell you which permits and fees apply to your project. Your quote shows whether city fees are part of it.

See your sign on your Glendale storefront

Send the address and one photo of the wall. We look up Glendale's limits and any sign program first, then place your sign on the photo, sized to those limits.
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. The Glendale permit information here is general, not an approval.

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