Sign for business on home property

93redzj

93redzj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Location
Albemarle
I’m wanting to put a sign out at the road in front of my property to advertise my business. I figured I’ll have to get in touch with DOT to verify how far off the road it’ll have to be, but does anyone know the requirements off hand? Is it also necessary to get a permit for this sort of thing?

I built a shop on my property without going the permit route but wasn’t sure if the sign at the road would be more necessary to have a permit for?
 
The sign in question is 4’x8’ with 4’ legs that will sleeve over a 4x4 that will be in the ground with cement
 
Couple of questions...
You mentioned not going the permit route, is your business legitimate?
I ask because you don't want to advertise your business, then an inspector comes out and sees your unpermited shop.
 
Jody Treadway said:
Couple of questions...
You mentioned not going the permit route, is your business legitimate?
I ask because you don't want to advertise your business, then an inspector comes out and sees your unpermited shop.
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Yeah I had thought about that, the shop is for personal use, not business. Not sure if that matters or not. The business I operate is a junk removal business, so no business gets conducted at the residence. We live off a pretty busy highway and the sign idea is just another way to get the name out and seen

Business is legitimate though. I’ve got an LLC formed, insured, all papers filed with state regarding business and such.
 
Sounds like that sign would be easy to move if there ever was a problem. Do it. Don't put a post hole thru a fiber line, though.

Or, get a van or box truck like everybody else and wrap it. Doesn't have to run. Just (probably) has to have a plate.


And just so you won't sleep at night...just because the building is out of sight of the road doesn't mean the gubamint won't know about it. For years the tax departments have used satellite imagery on a parcel by parcel basis to look for few construction and compare to permits. Now it's being done with AI. How AI and Remote Sensing Technology Can Help Boost Property Tax Collections All they have to do is mash a button.

In the first two years after we built our house/shop, the local tax people came out at least six times that I know of. I think mostly looking to see if I was running a business out of my (big) shop building. Had to sign a paper as part of the permitting process saying it would not be used for any sort of business activity. (Because other things kick in, like marked fire exits, extinguishers, lighting, handicap parking requirements, etc). You don't want to open that can of worms.
 
93redzj said:
Yeah I had thought about that, the shop is for personal use, not business. Not sure if that matters or not. The business I operate is a junk removal business, so no business gets conducted at the residence. We live off a pretty busy highway and the sign idea is just another way to get the name out and seen

Business is legitimate though. I’ve got an LLC formed, insured, all papers filed with state regarding business and such.
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I think the key term here is that you are renting yard space to a business. The fact that you own said business isn't relevant. To CYA I'd write up a document attesting this situation.
The illegally built shop isn't relevant either and as @kaiser715 pointed out will probably eventually get busted from other means.
 
kaiser715 said:
Sounds like that sign would be easy to move if there ever was a problem. Do it. Don't put a post hole thru a fiber line, though.

Or, get a van or box truck like everybody else and wrap it. Doesn't have to run. Just (probably) has to have a plate.


And just so you won't sleep at night...just because the building is out of sight of the road doesn't mean the gubamint won't know about it. For years the tax departments have used satellite imagery on a parcel by parcel basis to look for few construction and compare to permits. Now it's being done with AI. How AI and Remote Sensing Technology Can Help Boost Property Tax Collections All they have to do is mash a button.

In the first two years after we built our house/shop, the local tax people came out at least six times that I know of. I think mostly looking to see if I was running a business out of my (big) shop building. Had to sign a paper as part of the permitting process saying it would not be used for any sort of business activity. (Because other things kick in, like marked fire exits, extinguishers, lighting, handicap parking requirements, etc). You don't want to open that can of worms.
Click to expand...
Yeah the sign shouldn’t be too big a deal to take down if it came to it, guess I was just curious if it’s really that BIG A DEAL to get it permitted or if it was worth just saying screw it and put it up anyways.

The shop is definitely visible from the road, it’s been up about a year now, concrete pad was laid about a year before that, I haven’t had any issues yet out of inspectors (fingers crossed) although it would suck to have one come out for sign permit then try and hit me with the shop at same time.
 
its really just a zoning restriction question. Does your zone (assuming its residential) have any restriction on signs or a requirement to get a permit for one? A 30 second anonymous call to the county will yield your answer. "A buddy has asked if I can put a sign advertising his business in my yard, is there anything special I have to do?" then based on the answer decide if you're going to be asking for forgiveness or not.
 
RatLabGuy said:
its really just a zoning restriction question. Does your zone (assuming its residential) have any restriction on signs or a requirement to get a permit for one? A 30 second anonymous call to the county will yield your answer. "A buddy has asked if I can put a sign advertising his business in my yard, is there anything special I have to do?" then based on the answer decide if you're going to be asking for forgiveness or not.
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I think this is the approach I’m gonna take

UPDATE: called and was able to find out that a sign CAN be placed on property of business address (which is my address) unpermitted, as long as it’s 30’ off road from center line which is usually behind the power pole distance wise
 
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Jody Treadway said:
@McCracken used to own a restaurant and had a cool sign.
"Dick's Hot Dogs: if you like hot dogs, you'll love dicks"
Weirdly it never took off like he hoped.
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You left off the rest of it:
"Dick's Hot Dogs: if you like hot dogs, you'll love dicks in your mouth!"
 
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