# Sign Regulations in Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania

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

- **Jurisdiction:** Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania (PA)
- **Canonical page:** https://permitpal.io/sign-regulations/pennsylvania/wilkins-township
- **Data last verified:** 2025-04-28
- **Source:** [ecode360 municipal code](https://ecode360.com/32356046#32356046)

## At a glance

Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania regulates 31 sign types across 5 zoning districts. Freestanding Sign (Arterial Street)s in the Commercial District (C-1) zoning district are capped at 16 ft tall, 72 sq ft, and 10 ft wide, with a 5 ft from property line setback (Sec. Table 1 (§450-36); §450-39). Most commercial signs in Wilkins Township require a permit.

## Sign rules by zoning district (5 zones)

| Zoning District | Sign Types Regulated | Max Height | Max Area | Permit Required |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Residential District (R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4), Residential-Commercial-1 District (R-C-1) | 9 | 5 ft | 20 sq ft (aggregate) | — |
| Commercial District (C-1) | 22 | 16 ft | 350 sq ft | — |
| Manufacturing District (M-1) | 15 | 16 ft | 72 sq ft | — |
| General Purpose Transitional Overlay Zone (GPTOZ) | 10 | 4 ft | See 173-42 | — |
| General Regulations For All Zones | 2 | — | — | — |

## Zone-by-zone sign requirements (sample of 3 of 5 zones)

### Commercial District (C-1)

| Sign Type | Max Height | Max Area | Max Width | Setback | Signs Allowed | Location | Permit Required | Ordinance Citation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Billboard | See detailed variation | See detailed variation | 25 ft | Front, side, and rear yard minimums per district applicable. See below for sign-area/ROW-distance options. | — | Not within 660 ft of interstate/federal-aid highways or within 20 ft of other highway R-O-W; Not within 500 ft of any school property; Not within 1500 ft of another billboard, or within 200 ft of a residential district; If facing a residential district minimum 300 ft | — | §450-37 |
| Freestanding Sign (Arterial Street) | 16 ft | 72 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft from property line | 1 per lot or parcel | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36); §450-39 |
| Freestanding Sign (Collector Street) | 8 ft | 72 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft from property line | 1 per lot or parcel | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36); §450-39 |
| Freestanding Sign (Local Street) | 6 ft | 72 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft from property line | 1 per lot or parcel | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36); §450-39 |
| Suspended/Projecting Sign | 3 ft | 6 sq ft | — | Building setback minus 4 ft | 1 per establishment | On or near building front | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-41 |
| Temporary Sign - Building Mounted | See Wall Sign | See Wall Sign formula: 7.5% of first two stories | See Wall Sign | Building setback | 2 per lot | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-42C, §450-42E |
| Temporary Sign - Ground Mounted (20-75 ft from ROW) | 8 ft | 32 sq ft | — | 20-75 ft from ROW | 2 per lot | Ground | — | Table 1 (§450-36), 'Notes' after Table 1 |
| Temporary Sign - Ground Mounted (75-250 ft from ROW) | 8 ft | 90 sq ft | — | 75-250 ft from ROW | 2 per lot | Ground | — | Table 1 (§450-36), 'Notes' after Table 1 |

### Manufacturing District (M-1)

| Sign Type | Max Height | Max Area | Max Width | Setback | Signs Allowed | Location | Permit Required | Ordinance Citation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Canopy or Awning Sign | — | — | — | — | — | Canopy/awning | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-38 |
| Freestanding Sign (Arterial Street) | 16 ft | 72 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft from property line | 1 per lot or parcel | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36); §450-39 |
| Freestanding Sign (Collector Street) | 8 ft | 72 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft from property line | 1 per lot or parcel | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36); §450-39 |
| Freestanding Sign (Local Street) | 6 ft | 72 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft from property line | 1 per lot or parcel | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36); §450-39 |
| Changeable Copy Sign (Gas Station Only) | 12 ft above ground | 24 sq ft combined per pump island (max 4 faces), must be permanently mounted to pumps or supports | — | — | Max 4 sign faces per pump island | Permanently mounted on fuel pump or canopy supports | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-45 |
| Suspended/Projecting Sign | 3 ft | 6 sq ft | — | — | 1 per lot | On or near building front. 1 per lot. | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-41 |
| Temporary Sign - Building Mounted | — | — | — | — | 2 per public street front | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-42C, §450-42E |
| Wall Sign - Option 1 | No higher than building height | — | — | Building setback | — | Attached to wall, extending no further than 12 in from wall, parallel to wall. | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-42 |

### General Purpose Transitional Overlay Zone (GPTOZ)

| Sign Type | Max Height | Max Area | Max Width | Setback | Signs Allowed | Location | Permit Required | Ordinance Citation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Freestanding Sign | 4 ft | 15 sq ft | 4 ft | 5 ft from property line | 1 per lot or parcel | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-39 |
| Suspended/Projecting Sign | 3 ft | 6 sq ft | — | — | 1 per lot | On or near building front. 1 per lot. | — | Table 1 (§450-36), §450-41 |
| Temporary Sign | Same as Wall sign: 3 ft | Same as Wall sign: 6 sq ft | Same as Wall sign: 2 ft | — | 2 per lot | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36) |
| Wall Sign | 3 ft | 6 sq ft | 2 ft | — | 1 | Attached to wall | — | Table 1 (§450-36) |
| Window Sign | — | See 173-42 | — | — | — | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36) |
| Historic Marker | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36) |
| Memorial Plaque | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36) |
| Official Government Sign | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Table 1 (§450-36) |

## Prohibited signs in Wilkins Township

- Streamers, posters, ribbons, light strings, light bands, spinners, attention-getting devices that move, except for temporary signs that are subject to the regulations set forth in § 450-31D.
- Signs which exhibit changing natural or artificial light or color effects and signs (other than neon signs) which contain bare unshielded light or tubes which are visible from a private residence.
- Blinking, flashing, animated and electronic display screen signs, except for time, date and temperature signs.
- Portable signs.
- Roof signs or any sign erected upon, against or directly above a roof or on top of or above the parapet of a building, whichever forms the top line of the building silhouette.
- Signs attached to trees, fences, public utility poles, standpipes, gutter drains or fire escapes, other than warning signs issued by government officials or public utilities.
- Signs which by reason of their size, location, movement, content, coloring or manner of illumination may be confused with or construed to be a traffic control sign, signal or device or the light of an emergency or road equipment vehicle except where such sign is accessory to a parking area and gives directions or instructions to drivers and pedestrians.
- Signs that move, rotate, change position, have moving parts or create the illusion of movement, whether the movement is created by the wind or mechanically, including multi-prism signs.
- Signs in public rights-of-way which are not public signs.
- Abandoned or obsolete signs.
- Signs which do not meet the standards of or which otherwise violate the Pennsylvania Outdoor Advertising Control Act.
- Sign which the Zoning Officer determines to be unsafe or insecure or that is erected in violation of the provisions of this article.
- Signs which indicate a location in a municipality other than Wilkins Township or which could reasonably confuse the public into believing that the business is located in a municipality other than Wilkins Township.
- No person shall erect, construct or maintain any sign upon any property, structure or building without the prior written consent of the owner or person entitled to possession of the property, structure or building or his or her authorized representative.
- Except as provided in § 450-31, it is unlawful for any person to erect, construct, enlarge, move or convert any sign in the municipality or cause the same to be done without first obtaining a sign permit for each such sign from the Zoning Officer.

## Signs exempt from permit in Wilkins Township

- Memorial plaques or historic markers or other similar signs which are engraved or a permanent component of a building, monument, tombstone or other similar structure.
- Signs erected by the municipality.
- Street number signs indicating the address of a building or structure.
- Temporary signs subject to the limitations in Table 1, provided that no temporary sign encroaches into any public right-of-way or obstructs the view of motorists in any required clear sight triangle.
- Pennants for model homes.
- "No trespassing" signs, warning signs (such as "beware of dog") and notification signs for emergency personnel, provided that the sign does not exceed two square feet in sign surface area and there are no more than two such signs on the lot.
- Temporary political signs (with area, height, and timing restrictions, permit required for public property per §450-31G).
- Vehicle signs.

## Sign plan & submission notes

- No sign permit shall be issued for a shopping center or other multioccupant land use or for any individual establishment or occupant therein unless a uniform sign plan has been submitted and approved for the entire development.
- The Zoning Officer shall approve the uniform sign plan only upon finding that the items in § 450-44B are satisfied, and that the sign plan has been reviewed by a qualified municipal consultant.

## Full detail

This page publishes an overview of every zoning district plus a sample of 3 districts in full. Complete zone-by-zone requirements for all 5 zoning districts in Wilkins Township — every sign type, every field — are available with a free PermitPal account: https://app.permitpal.io/?address=Wilkins+Township+PA&override=true&utm_source=landing&utm_medium=city-page&utm_campaign=city-wilkins-township

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