# Sign Regulations in Hazleton, Pennsylvania

Sign permit rules, size and height limits, setbacks, and ordinance citations for Hazleton, Pennsylvania, compiled by PermitPal from the jurisdiction's published municipal code.

- **Jurisdiction:** Hazleton, Pennsylvania (PA)
- **Canonical page:** https://permitpal.io/sign-regulations/pennsylvania/hazleton
- **Data last verified:** 2025-04-21
- **Source:** [ecode360 municipal code](https://ecode360.com/37224184#37224184)

## At a glance

Hazleton, Pennsylvania regulates 9 sign types across 3 zoning districts. Directional or Informational Signs in the General Regulations For All Zones zoning district are capped at 5 feet (freestanding); top of wall for wall signs; below highest point of roof for roof signs tall and 2 sq ft per sign (unless not legible from street, then max 8 sq ft), with a 1 foot (freestanding) setback (Sec. § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-901F). Most commercial signs in Hazleton require a permit.

## Sign rules by zoning district (3 zones)

| Zoning District | Sign Types Regulated | Max Height | Max Area | Permit Required |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| General Regulations For All Zones | 6 | 25 feet | 300 sq ft | — |
| Light Industrial (LI), General Industrial (GI), General Industrial District (GI) | 2 | 25 feet | 300 sq ft | — |
| Community Commercial (CC), Commercial Highway (CH), Commercial Highway District (CH) | 2 | 20 feet (freestanding); top of wall for wall sign; below highest point of roof for roof sign | 200 sq ft | — |

## Zone-by-zone sign requirements

### General Regulations For All Zones

| Sign Type | Max Height | Max Area | Max Width | Setback | Signs Allowed | Location | Permit Required | Ordinance Citation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Directional or Informational Sign | 5 feet (freestanding); top of wall for wall signs; below highest point of roof for roof signs | 2 sq ft per sign (unless not legible from street, then max 8 sq ft) | — | 1 foot (freestanding) | 4 per use | All zones; either freestanding or attached to building; window also allowed | — | § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-901F |
| Institutional Sign | 15 feet (freestanding); top of wall for wall sign; below highest point of roof for roof sign | 32 sq ft or 64 sq ft each exposed side | — | 5 feet (freestanding) | 1 per principal building | All zones; must be associated with principal building | — | § 575-903 Sign Table |
| Name plate or identification Sign | 8 feet | 6 sq ft | — | 2 feet (freestanding) | 1 per dwelling unit | All zones; attached to dwelling or freestanding | — | § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-901I and § 575-901K |
| Special Event Sign | 10 feet (freestanding); wall sign may go to top of wall; roof sign not permitted | 16 sq ft | — | 1 foot (freestanding) | No defined maximum | All zones; wall or freestanding | — | § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-904B(1) |
| Exempt Signs (various types) | Varies per sign type | Varies: Nat'l/state flags (no area); Window displays (N/A); Govt signs (N/A); Scoreboards: sponsor area limited to 25%; Warning, No Trespassing, No Parking, etc: 2 sq ft per face, 4 sq ft total; Parking directional: 4 sq ft per face, 5 ft height; Parking/loading instructional: 8 sq ft per face, 16 sq ft total, 10 ft (wall)/7 ft (ground) height; Name/address: 2 sq ft per face, 4 sq ft total; Religious/historical: 2 sq ft per face, 4 sq ft total; Gasoline/vending: 4 sq ft per face, 8 sq ft total; Political: see below; Real estate: 12 sq ft (residential), 32 sq ft (nonresidential); Construction: 12 sq ft. | — | — | As specified for each exempt sign | As described for each sign in § 575-901 | — | § 575-901 Exempt signs |
| Billboards (General Regulations) | 25 feet | 300 sq ft | — | 15 feet (from property line for freestanding sign) | 1 per lot | Not closer than 150 feet from residential structure and street intersection; must be minimum of 500 feet from another billboard; only on vacant lot or lot developed to <2/3 of building coverage. | — | § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-904B(2) |

### Light Industrial (LI), General Industrial (GI), General Industrial District (GI)

| Sign Type | Max Height | Max Area | Max Width | Setback | Signs Allowed | Location | Permit Required | Ordinance Citation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Billboard | 25 feet | 300 sq ft | — | 15 feet (freestanding) | 1 per lot | Vacant lot or lot developed to less than 2/3 of building coverage; not within 150 ft of residential structure/street intersection; min 500 ft from another billboard | — | § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-904B(2) |
| Business Sign | 15 feet (freestanding); top of wall for wall sign; below highest point of roof for roof sign | 36 sq ft (max 3 window signs per building) | — | 5 feet (freestanding) | 2 per lot or building; max 3 window signs | Freestanding or attached (wall/roof/window) | — | § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-904A(1)(c) |

### Community Commercial (CC), Commercial Highway (CH), Commercial Highway District (CH)

| Sign Type | Max Height | Max Area | Max Width | Setback | Signs Allowed | Location | Permit Required | Ordinance Citation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Shopping Center or Strip Mall Sign | 20 feet (freestanding); top of wall for wall sign; below highest point of roof for roof sign | 200 sq ft | — | 10 feet (freestanding) | 1 freestanding per lot; unlimited wall/window signs | Freestanding or attached (wall/window/roof) | — | § 575-903 Sign Table |
| Business Sign | 15 feet (freestanding); top of wall for wall sign; below highest point of roof for roof sign | 36 sq ft (max 3 window signs per building) | — | 5 feet (freestanding) | 2 per lot or building; max 3 window signs | Freestanding or attached (wall/roof/window) | — | § 575-903 Sign Table; § 575-904A(1)(c) |

## Prohibited signs in Hazleton

- Signs which are constructed, erected, placed or installed in such a manner so as to obstruct or distract motorists, or pose a threat to pedestrian or vehicular travel.
- No signs shall be permitted that have spinners, reflectors, or similar materials displayed outside a building.
- No signs shall emit smoke, visible vapors, particles, sound, or odor.
- Inflatable signs are prohibited, except those associated with exempt holiday decorations.
- Signs containing an open flame to attract attention are prohibited.
- Except for time and temperature indicators with digital or analog movement, signs shall not contain moving parts or use flashing, sequential or intermittent illumination; the source of light shall be steady and stationary.
- No sign shall be constructed, placed, erected or maintained which, because of its illumination or location, poses a danger to vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or obstructs free ingress to or egress from any window, door, emergency exit, or fire escape.
- No sign other than an official traffic sign or political sign may be erected within the right-of-way line of any street, including sidewalks and walkways.
- Signs which imitate, interfere with, or obstruct the view of an official traffic sign or signal are prohibited. Any sign that, due to design or location, may be confused with an official traffic sign or signal is also prohibited.
- Off-premises advertising on an automobile, truck, or other vehicle is prohibited if that vehicle is parked for no other purpose than to advertise for a period of three or more consecutive days, or more than one day for any thirty-day period per year, or the vehicle is otherwise being used primarily for displaying such sign, and the vehicle is parked in or visible from a public right-of-way.
- Portable and wheeled signs are prohibited.
- A frame or sandwich board and sidewalk, or curb sign is prohibited.
- Banners, pennants, streamers, balloons, and gas filled signs or figures are prohibited.
- Projecting signs which are attached to a building and project more than 15 inches beyond the wall surface of the building to which the sign is attached are prohibited.
- Signs which are attached to a tree or utility pole unless the owner of the telephone pole agrees to the attachment. No sign shall be painted, pasted, nailed, stapled, or otherwise attached to utility poles, trees, fences, fire hydrants, or in an unauthorized manner to walls or other signs.
- No sign shall be placed so as to obstruct ventilation or light from a building.
- No sign shall include statements, words, or pictures that are considered to be vulgar, obscene, or pornographic. No sign shall depict specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities.
- Any nonconforming sign that is prohibited under this section may continue to exist, but shall not be moved, altered, repaired or replaced except in conformity with this article of the chapter.
- No sign shall advertise activities or products that are illegal under federal, state, or local municipal laws or regulations.

## Signs exempt from permit in Hazleton

- National or state flags.
- Window displays or other signs erected inside a structure or that cannot be seen from outside a structure.
- Governmental signs and other signs required by a governmental agency authorized for a public purpose by law, statute, ordinance, regulation or policy.
- Athletic scoreboards provided that sponsor advertising on the sign does not exceed 25% of the surface area of the sign, or any other sign advertising a sponsor and erected in a public recreational facility such as the signs attached to the outfield fences in a baseball field.
- Warning signs, no-trespassing signs, no-parking signs, towing signs, and other similar signs, provided that they are constructed in accordance with state law and do not exceed two square feet in gross surface area for each exposed face nor exceeding an aggregate gross surface area of four square feet.
- Parking lot directional signs containing no advertising either erected pursuant to an approved land development plan, or signs otherwise designating parking area entrances and exits limited to one sign for each entrance and exit and not exceeding four square feet in gross surface area for each exposed face and not exceeding five feet in height.
- Parking lot and loading zone instructional signs either erected pursuant to an approved land development plan, or signs otherwise identifying a parking lot area and not exceeding eight square feet in gross surface area for each exposed face nor exceeding an aggregate gross surface area of 16 square feet, and not projecting higher than 10 feet for walls signs and seven feet for ground signs.
- Memorial signs such as grave markers that are not commercial in nature and erected for the purpose of remembering a person or an event.
- Name and address signs identifying the name and address of the owners or occupants, including those signs erected for 911 purposes, provided that the signs do not exceed two square feet in gross surface area for each exposed face and having an aggregate gross surface area of four square feet.
- Holiday signs, which are erected as a decoration to temporarily display a traditionally accepted civic, patriotic, or religious holiday related to observance of the civic, patriotic, or religious holiday.
- Religious symbols, commemorative plaques of recognized historical agencies, or identification emblems of religious orders or historical agencies not exceeding two square feet in gross surface area for each exposed face and not exceeding four square feet in aggregate gross surface area.
- Permanent, nonflashing signs, on gasoline pumps, vending machines, or other similar devices indicating only the contents of the device, the pricing of the contents, directional and instructional information as to the use of the device, and other similar nonadvertising information not exceeding four square feet in gross surface area for each exposed face and not exceeding an aggregate gross surface area of eight square feet.
- Political signs, provided that the political signs are removed within 10 days following the election for which the sign was erected.
- Real estate signs, provided that no more than one sign is located on the property intended for sale, except on a corner lot two signs shall be permitted. A real estate sign shall not exceed 12 square feet for a residentially zoned property and 32 square feet for a nonresidentially zoned property.
- Construction site signs identifying an architect, engineer or contractor when placed on a construction site and not exceeding 12 square feet in area only during the construction process.

## Sign plan & submission notes

- The placement, construction, relocation or alteration of signs shall require a zoning permit and be governed by the Sign Table, except for exempt signs.
- Exempt signs (per § 575-901) do not require a zoning permit.
- A sign must be erected in accordance with the applicable building and electrical codes, when applicable.
- Nonconforming signs must not be moved, altered, repaired, or replaced except in conformity with Article IX of the chapter (suggesting a permit or other review may be required in those cases).
- Directional or instructional parking lot signs may be 'erected pursuant to an approved land development plan', which could involve submission of a sign plan as part of land development.
- Billboards and other specific sign types are governed by location, area, and separation requirements in the Sign Table and may necessitate specific permits or review processes (not necessarily a master sign plan mentioned, but several indicate approval steps).
- All signs, unless otherwise exempted, require a zoning permit prior to placement, construction, relocation, or alteration.

## Full detail

Complete sign requirements for Hazleton, including every field PermitPal tracks for each sign type, are available with a free PermitPal account: https://app.permitpal.io/?address=Hazleton+PA&override=true&utm_source=landing&utm_medium=city-page&utm_campaign=city-hazleton

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