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Sign Permit in Unincorporated Coconino County, Arizona

Required before erecting, constructing, enlarging, modifying, or relocating any sign in unincorporated Coconino County. The Zoning Ordinance requires a Building Permit for each sign, and a separate electrical permit where the sign is electrical or illuminated by electricity. Billed as a Table IV per-unit fee. Applications are submitted online through the SmartGov portal.

Verified 2026-08-15 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Zoning Ordinance Section 4.2.C.1.N: 'No Person, firm, or corporation shall erect, construct, enlarge, modify, or relocate any Sign in the County without first obtaining a Building Permit, as applicable, for each such Sign. Where said Sign is electrical or illuminated by electricity, a separate electrical permit shall be obtained.'
  • Zoning Ordinance Section 1.12.A.2 lists a 'Sign permit' among the permits required by the Ordinance, and provides that no such permit may be lawfully issued until the Community Development Director or designee has given authorization that all Ordinance requirements, conditions and stipulations of approval have been met
  • Billboards and Off-Premise Signs are NOT permitted in any zone; existing ones are Nonconforming Uses (Section 4.2.C.2.A.i as printed in the Prohibited Signs subsection)
  • No Roof Signs are permitted; no sign may rotate, simulate movement, or be animated; Electronic Message Board copy may not change more than once in 24 hours (Section 4.2.C.1.B, .K, .O)
  • All sign illumination must be interior or top-mounted downward-directed floodlight, and signs may not be illuminated between the hours prescribed in Section 4.3 (Dark Skies / outdoor lighting) and sunrise unless the use advertised is open to the public during those hours (Section 4.2.C.1.A)
  • No sign may encroach on or overhang adjacent property or any public right-of-way, be attached to a utility pole, light standard, tree or other public facility, or be placed in a public right-of-way or easement without an encroachment permit (Section 4.2.C.1.C)
  • Projecting signs may not extend more than 32 inches from the wall, may not exceed 10 square feet, and require 8 feet of ground clearance (Section 4.2.C.1.L)
  • Signs in a clear sight triangle (25 feet measured along each property line at street intersections, and along the property line and driveway at driveway entrances) may not exceed 3 feet in height (Section 4.2.C.1.Q)
  • Apply online through the SmartGov portal (co-coconino-az.smartgovcommunity.com); only PDF files are accepted for plan review submittals

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Sign permit (per sign)Coconino County Building Permitting Fees, effective 09/01/2021, Table IV Per Unit Permit Fees, Building section — PDF page 6, read from a 200 dpi rendered image of the page, not from text extraction. NOTE: pdftotext -layout on this same page mis-paired this table's rows and reported a different value; the rendered page is the authority.
$68.01 each
Electrical permit for an electrical/illuminated sign — permit issuanceCoconino County Building Permitting Fees, effective 09/01/2021, Table IV, Electrical section header ('Fee to issue electrical permit $50.00') — PDF page 4, read from a 200 dpi render.
$50.00
Electrical — signs, lighting and marquees, including all wiring, conduit and over-current devices: one branch circuitCoconino County Building Permitting Fees, effective 09/01/2021, Table IV, Electrical section — PDF page 4, read from a 200 dpi render.
$15.00
Electrical — each additional branch circuit within the same sign, outline lighting system or marqueeCoconino County Building Permitting Fees, effective 09/01/2021, Table IV, Electrical section — PDF page 4, read from a 200 dpi render.
$3.00
UPCOMING — fee schedule effective 1/1/2027 (Ordinance 2026-04)Ordinance 2026-04 (approved June 2, 2026, recorded 06/12/2026), Table IV Per Unit Permit Fees — the reorganized Table IV (Residential Electrical / Residential Mechanical / Residential Plumbing / Residential Building) contains NO 'Sign permit' line. Ordinance page 5 of 8 carries the electrical figures; Ordinance page 6 of 8, Notes, states 'The minimum fee for any single permit shall be $50.00. All fees include the plan review fee' and 'Where no fees are listed, submitted valuation can be used' (ordinance page 7 of 8). All figures read from 150 dpi renders of the scanned ordinance PDF (the PDF has no text layer at all). These fees take effect 1/1/2027 per the County's Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page; the 09/01/2021 schedule governs until then.
No standalone sign-permit unit fee; electrical for signs/lighting/marquees becomes $50.00 for one branch circuit and $3.00 for each additional branch circuit

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Sign Permit permit actually take in Unincorporated Coconino County?

Anonymous — one question, no email. Answers are combined and only shown once at least 5 people have reported.

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Final

    Verifies the sign as installed matches the approved permit and complies with Zoning Ordinance Section 4.2 location, height, size and illumination standards

See the full Unincorporated Coconino County inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

Tips

  • Billboards and off-premise signs are prohibited in every zone in unincorporated Coconino County — a permit for one cannot be issued; existing billboards survive only as nonconforming uses.
  • An illuminated sign needs TWO permits, not one: the sign permit itself plus a separate electrical permit (Zoning Ordinance Section 4.2.C.1.N).
  • Many sign categories are exempt or handled as 'special purpose' signs without an individual permit — official notices, wayfinding signs authorized by a public authority, memorial plaques, political signs under A.R.S. § 16-1019, parking directional signs up to 10 sq ft, for-sale/rental signs up to 6 sq ft, open-house signs up to 4 sq ft, and construction signs up to 20 sq ft (residential) or 40 sq ft (commercial/industrial). Check Section 4.2.B and 4.2.C.2 before applying.
  • Temporary on-site subdivision signs are the one category the Ordinance ties explicitly to a sign permit clock: they may remain for 2 years 'from the date the required Sign permit is issued,' extendable one year by the Planning and Zoning Commission (Section 4.2.C.2.B.v).
  • Sign illumination must also satisfy the County's outdoor lighting standards in Section 4.3 — electronic signs are treated as unshielded and externally illuminated for that calculation.
  • The county's newly adopted fee ordinance (2026-04, effective 1/1/2027) drops the standalone sign-permit unit fee; from that date the schedule's own note says 'Where no fees are listed, submitted valuation can be used,' with a $50.00 minimum for any single permit. Confirm the applicable figure with the Building Division (928-679-8850) for work spanning the changeover.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Zoning Ordinance Section 4.2.C.1.N requires a Building Permit before you erect, construct, enlarge, modify, or relocate any sign, and a separate electrical permit if the sign is electrical or illuminated by electricity. Source: https://www.coconino.az.gov/DocumentCenter/View/61314/Coconino-County-Zoning-Ordinance---Final-Approved-June-9-2022---updated-January-2024

$68.01 per sign under the currently operative Building Permitting Fees schedule effective 09/01/2021 (Table IV, Building section). An illuminated sign also needs an electrical permit: $50.00 to issue, plus $15.00 for one branch circuit and $3.00 for each additional branch circuit. Source: https://www.coconino.az.gov/DocumentCenter/View/45541/Building-Permitting-Fees---effective-09-01-21

Unincorporated Coconino County does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact Coconino County Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division at 928-679-8850 (toll-free 800-559-9289); fax 928-679-8851 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Online Permit Applications Portal Submission. Depending on your project, Unincorporated Coconino County may also ask for: Separate electrical permit application (illuminated signs only). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Unincorporated Coconino County requires 1 inspection(s) for a sign permit, in order: Final. Schedule each through Coconino County Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division (928-679-8850 (toll-free 800-559-9289); fax 928-679-8851).

Apply through Coconino County Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division at 2500 N. Fort Valley Road, Building 1, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-1287. Phone: 928-679-8850 (toll-free 800-559-9289); fax 928-679-8851, email: plansubmittals@coconino.az.gov. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Director: Jay Christelman; Assistant Director: Jess McNeely. All building permit applications and document submittals for unincorporated Coconino County are made online through the Online Permit Applications portal (co-coconino-az.smartgovcommunity.com); only PDF files are accepted for plan review submittals.. Official information: https://www.coconino.az.gov/624/Building-and-Safety.

Unincorporated Coconino County, Arizona has adopted: Arizona has NO statewide mandatory building code floor for general construction — code adoption is a per-city/county authority under state enabling statutes (A.R.S. Title 11 for counties). Coconino County Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division, is the code enforcement agency and building official for all unincorporated areas of the county (areas outside Flagstaff, Page, Fredonia, Tusayan, and Williams, and outside the Coconino County portion of Sedona).; As of this record's verification date (July 2026), the Coconino County Building Division's current adopted codes are: 2018 International Residential Code (IRC); 2018 International Building Code (IBC); 2018 International Mechanical Code (IMC); 2018 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC); 2018 International Plumbing Code (IPC); 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC); 2018 International Existing Building Code (IEBC); and 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC). Adopted via County Ordinance 2019-10 ('2019-10 Coconino County Building Ordinance — adopting the 2018 Suite of Building Codes with Amendments'). Source: Coconino County Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page (coconino.az.gov/2391/Building-Codes-Ordinances-Design-Criteri), 'Current Codes and Ordinances' section, rendered/read directly July 2026.; Every six years the Community Development Department, in partnership with the Building Safety Advisory Board (BSAB), leads a process to adopt updated codes. As of this record's date, the County has begun a public process toward adopting the 2024 ICC code suite and 2023 NEC — an open house was held March 23, 2026 at 2500 N. Fort Valley Rd. (Thomas Auditorium), and a slide deck covering the 2024 IECC, IBC, IPC, IMC, IFGC and 2023 NEC changes was presented — but as of this record's lastVerified date that update had NOT yet been formally adopted. The 2018 ICC / 2017 NEC baseline remains the current, controlling code. Source: Coconino County Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page, 'Building Code Adoption' section.; Additional adopted county ordinances/codes beyond the base ICC/NEC suite: Potable Rainwater Collection and Distribution Systems Code (an amendment to the IRC); 2020-11 Earthen Building and Construction Ordinance (regulating quality, type of material, testing, and workmanship for earthen buildings/structures). Source: Coconino County Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page.; The Innovative Materials and Systems Pilot Program (part of the 2019-10 Ordinance) allows owner-builders to seek an exemption from standard adopted-code provisions when building with alternative methods and materials, under conditions evaluated by the Building Official — administered in coordination with the County's broader 'Building with Alternative Methods and Materials' / Alternative Methods and Materials Permit Program (ATAG certification and consultation process) run out of the Community Development Department. Source: Coconino County Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page; Coconino County Community Development page (coconino.az.gov/136/Community-Development), 'Building with Alternative Methods and Materials' section.; Manufactured homes and factory-built buildings follow a joint state/local structure: the Arizona Department of Fire, Building and Life Safety (Office of Manufactured Housing) sets manufacturer/installer/retailer licensing and issues state-level installation permits, while local site/foundation/utility compliance is handled by Coconino County under a dedicated Manufactured Homes and Factory Built Building Permit fee schedule (Part III of the county's Building Permitting Fees) and a 7-business-day review ceiling under the county's own timeframes policy. Source: Coconino County Online Permit Applications page (coconino.az.gov/2390/Online-Permit-Applications), 'Manufactured Homes & Factory Built Projects' section; Coconino County Building Permitting Fees schedule, Part III.; Properties within the Sedona Fire District (including Oak Creek Canyon) are additionally subject to the 2018 Wildland and Urban Interface Codes as adopted by that fire district; fire suppression systems are required in addition to Wildland-Urban-Interface-code compliance, and the Sedona Fire Marshal conducts concurrent plan reviews with Coconino County to ensure compliance. Source: Coconino County Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page, 'Building Within the Sedona Fire District' section.. Local amendments apply — see the Unincorporated Coconino County overview page for the full list.

No. The Zoning Ordinance's Prohibited Signs provision states that billboards and off-premise signs are not permitted in any zone, and that all existing ones are nonconforming uses. Source: https://www.coconino.az.gov/DocumentCenter/View/61314/Coconino-County-Zoning-Ordinance---Final-Approved-June-9-2022---updated-January-2024

Other permits in Unincorporated Coconino County

Residential Building Permit (Single-Family Dwelling, ADU, Model Home, Tiny House)Residential Miscellaneous Permit (Additions, Remodels, Decks, Fences, Sheds, Pools, Re-Roofing, and More)Electrical PermitPlumbing PermitMechanical / HVAC PermitSolar PV Permit — Self-Issue Residential Rooftop (Grid-Tied) and Residential Miscellaneous (All Other Solar)EV Charger / EVSE PermitManufactured Home / Factory-Built Building PermitCommercial Building Permit (New Construction, Tenant Improvement, Remodel)Demolition PermitFire Sprinkler / Fire Alarm Permit (Fire Protection System)Change of Use / Change of Occupancy Permit

Sign Permit in other cities

Ak-Chin Indian Community, ArizonaApache Junction, ArizonaAvondale, ArizonaBenson, ArizonaBisbee, ArizonaBuckeye, ArizonaBullhead City, ArizonaCamp Verde, Arizona

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