Phoenix ground and monument sign rules: height, size, spacing and setbacks
Last checked: October 2026. Part of our Phoenix sign rules guide. Every statement below is quoted or summarized from a saved official city source; the numbered markers open the Sources list at the bottom.
Confirm with the city before you build or bid. This page is a plain-English summary for planning only. It is not legal advice and not the official code. The City Clerk's Office has the official version of the Phoenix Zoning Ordinance [1]. Planning & Development Sign Section: 602-495-0301, pdd.signservices@phoenix.gov[2]. If anything here disagrees with the code or city staff, the city is right.
Height and size (commercial and industrial)
Numbers in parentheses are the height and area possible through design review (Table D-1, note 1). [1]
Secondary sign on a low volume street: the height cell of Table D-1 prints only "(10)", and note 1 says numerals in parentheses are height and area possible through design review. [1]
A sign on a high volume street is limited to the low volume street standards if residential development or undeveloped residentially zoned property has frontage on that street within 150 feet of the sign (Table D-1, note 6). [1]
Freeway signs: only on property with freeway frontage, within 300 feet of and oriented to a freeway, expressway or parkway (Table D-1, note 5). [1]
100 ft or less of frontage, one secondary sign; between 100 and 300 ft, one primary sign; more than 300 ft, the same number and sizes of signs as a multiple-use parcel
one ground sign up to 20 ft high and 150 sq ft, or one ground sign on each street front up to 5 ft high as of right (8 ft through design review) and 32 sq ft
one corner sign up to 20 ft high and 150 sq ft, or one sign on each street front up to 15 ft and 110 sq ft on a low volume street or 18 ft and 130 sq ft on a high volume street
front yard, or side yard of a corner lot next to a street; at the property line or two feet from the back side of a curb or sidewalk, whichever is greater
Only subdivision identification signs may use design review to reach 8 ft (note 3). [1]
Two subdivision identification signs are permitted at each subdivision entrance (note 2). [1]
Table D-1, note 8: "Spacing of ground signs for multi-family and non-residential uses in a residential district may be reduced to 100 feet from ground signs on an adjacent commercially zoned property." [1]
Engineering and permit fee
When a ground sign needs engineering, the city documents conflict. Both are shown; ask the Sign Section which applies.
Document
What it says
Source
Sign FAQ (rev. 08/22)
ground signs that exceed six feet in height and thirty-two square feet in area require structural engineering sealed by an Arizona registered architect or structural engineer
a fabricator may file an approved standard design (§705.B.1.d(3)), and a sealed contractor certification for faces, cabinets and attachment may be accepted in lieu of formal engineering (§705.B.1.d(4))
Confirm with the City of Phoenix Sign Section (602-495-0301, pdd.signservices@phoenix.gov) before you fabricate or submit.[2] Codes and fees change. Last checked October 2026.
Section numbers (§) refer to the city's zoning ordinance unless noted. Each statement on this page is checked against a saved copy of an official city source, and where official sources disagree we show both. Spotted an error or an outdated fee? Report an error.
Sources (4)
Show / hide
Each numbered marker on this page points to the source entry with the same number below.
Phoenix Zoning Ordinance, Section 705 Signs (online code). Code page footer: "current through Ordinance G-7461, passed December 3, 2025". phoenix.municipal.codes/ZO/705
City of Phoenix, Signs web page. No date is printed on this page; our copy was saved in October 2026. phoenix.gov/…/signs.html
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