Sign Permit in Crested Butte, Colorado

Crested Butte requires a sign permit for: No sign shall be erected, constructed, altered, remodeled or changed until a permit is issued by BOTH the Building Inspector and the Board (BOZAR) — Town Code Sec. 16-18-10(a); Exempt from the permit requirement (Sec. 16-18-10(b)): historic markers on buildings for 40+ consecutive years as of July 31, 2012 conveying only historic use, residential identification signs, real estate sale/rent signs, construction/remodeling signs, institutional identification signs, and transient-merchant signs — none of these count toward a property's allowable sign total either; Also permit-free: one open/closed sign per business up to 2 sq ft, one business-hours sign up to 2 sq ft (Sec. 16-18-20(2)(a)-(b)), and signs/pictures/posters within 5 feet of the inside of windows, provided they are not internally lit/neon, moving, 'Day-Glo,' flashing, or redundant as to subject matter (Sec. 16-18-20(16)); Beyond the exemptions, each business may generally have up to 2 additional permitted signs, plus a third permitted alley-facing sign (max 6 sq ft, wall-mounted only, not visible from a numbered street) — Sec. 16-18-20(2)(c), (e); No internally lit, neon, phosphorescent, flashing, animated, or moving-part signs, except one narrow wooden-framed glass-door box (max 4 sq ft) that may be internally lit with shielded white incandescent light (Sec. 16-18-20(8), (18)); Aggregate sign area cap (Sec. 16-18-50): buildings with an 800+ sq ft front facade may have up to 100 sq ft of signage in aggregate; buildings under 800 sq ft are capped at 1/8 of the front facade area; no single sign may exceed 32 sq ft; variances are NOT allowed for sign measurements; Structural limits (Sec. 16-18-40): freestanding signs limited to one per building/parcel, no taller than 12 feet above grade; tallest individual letter may not exceed 18 inches; wall signs may not project more than 6 inches from the building wall; Off-site signs (advertising a business not located at the sign's location) are permitted only adjacent to Elk Avenue in Blocks 19-23 and 26-30 of the B-1, B-3, and B-4 Business Districts, within 266 linear feet of Elk Avenue frontage, subject to uniform dimension limits (Sec. 16-18-20(24)); A sign permit may be issued concurrently with, and without a separate application or fee from, a building permit if the Board considers the sign at the same time it considers the architectural appropriateness of the building (Sec. 16-18-70); The Building Inspector and the Chair of the Board may jointly designate a complete, code-compliant sign application as 'insubstantial' if it will have little or no visible impact on the surrounding neighborhood — this waives full Board approval, subject to the Building Inspector reporting the designation to the Board at its next meeting (Sec. 16-18-100); The Board may waive all or part of the sign permit fee for good cause shown or to promote substantial justice (Sec. 16-18-80); In flux: the Town's Draft Chapter 16 Zoning Code rewrite (discussed at BOZAR through mid-2026, per Crested Butte News reporting, with council giving unofficial approval to a final draft on June 15, 2026 before it returned to BOZAR and Council) is understood to touch sign code, lighting, and FAR provisions — the live Municode Article 18 text used for this entry is current only through Ordinance No. 5, Series 2026 (adopted March 16, 2026) and shows no post-rewrite amendment as of this session; confirm current requirements directly with Planning before finalizing a design. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Town of Crested Butte Building Department (Community Development Department) at (970) 349-5338 before starting work.

$20.00 flat plus $2.00 per square foot of sign area above 10 square feet, per both the Town's dedicated Sign Permit Application and the 2026 Fee Schedule. The Board may waive all or part of this fee for good cause, and no separate fee applies if the sign is reviewed concurrently with a building permit's BOZAR architectural review.

Crested Butte does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact Town of Crested Butte Building Department (Community Development Department) at (970) 349-5338 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Sign Permit Application (Town of Crested Butte Building Department form); Scaled Drawing or Rendering of Proposed Sign. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Apply through Town of Crested Butte Building Department (Community Development Department) at 507 Maroon Ave, Crested Butte, CO 81224 (Building Department mailing address: PO Box 39, Crested Butte, CO 81224). Phone: (970) 349-5338, email: building@crestedbutte-co.gov. Office hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Building Official Astrid Matison (ext. 116, amatison@crestedbutte-co.gov). Building Inspector Josh Staab (ext. 127, jstaab@crestedbutte-co.gov). Community Development Director Mel Yemma (ext. 119, melyemma@crestedbutte-co.gov). BOZAR/Planning questions: planning@crestedbutte-co.gov, (970) 349-5338 ext. 121.. Official information: https://townofcrestedbutte.colorado.gov/planning-permitting/community-development.

Crested Butte, Colorado has adopted: 2024 International Building Code (IBC), Chapters 1-35 without appendices — adopted by reference, Town Code Chapter 18, Article 1 (Sec. 18-1-10), pursuant to Title 31, Article 16, Part 2, C.R.S.; 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 2 (Sec. 18-2-10), with extensive local amendments including an all-electric mandate and Table R301.2 climatic design data (Sec. 18-2-30); International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 2.5; International Green Construction Code (IgCC), selected sections — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 1.5 (Sec. 18-1.5-30), applicable to new commercial construction; 2021 International Mechanical Code (IMC), including Appendix A — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 3 (Sec. 18-3-10); 2021 International Plumbing Code (IPC), including Appendices C and E — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 4 (Sec. 18-4-10); 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 5 (Sec. 18-5-10), adopted with no local amendments; 2024 International Fire Code (IFC), including Appendices B-M — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 6 (Sec. 18-6-10), adopted by Ordinance No. 9, Series 2025, § 2(Exh. A), effective September 15, 2025. This updates this file's prior 2021 IFC citation (verified 2026-07-06) against the current live Municode text (re-verified 2026-08-13) — the Town has since re-adopted the 2024 edition. Enforced with Crested Butte Fire Protection District (CBFPD) coordination; local amendments include IFC Sec. 507.1 as amended, requiring an approved monitored fire suppression system throughout any occupancy/structure wherever the water supply cannot provide the required fire flow (Occupancy R-3 single-family dwellings excepted), and IFC Appendix B105.1 as amended, setting a 1,500 gpm minimum fire-flow requirement for one- and two-family dwellings, R-3/R-4 buildings, and townhouses; 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC), 8 CCR 1507-39 — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 6.5 (Sec. 18-6.5-10), established statewide July 1, 2025; Town enforcement begins June 1, 2026 per the Town's own CWRC Summary Sheet; 2021 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), including Appendices — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 7 (Sec. 18-7-10), with local amendments requiring high-efficiency direct-vent sealed-combustion appliances only (deleting IFGC's alternative combustion-air provisions); 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), without appendices — Town Code Chapter 18, Article 9, Sec. 18-9-40; new construction is additionally required to achieve DOE Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) certification per the Town's 2024 Building Code Information page and fact sheet, effective for permits starting January 1, 2026; Colorado Model Electric Ready and Solar Ready Code — referenced throughout the Town's 2024 Building Code fact sheet for EV-ready parking, solar-ready zones, and electric-ready gas-appliance provisions; Full Town Code Chapter 18 (Building Regulations) text hosted at townofcrestedbutte.colorado.gov (Town Code Chapter 18 Revised PDF, Supp. No. 22) and mirrored on library.municode.com/co/crested_butte. Local amendments apply — see the Crested Butte overview page for the full list.

No. Historic markers, residential identification signs, real estate sale/rent signs, construction/remodeling signs, institutional identification signs, transient-merchant signs, small open/closed and business-hours signs, and most window signage are exempt under Town Code Sec. 16-18-10(b) and 16-18-20. Most freestanding, projecting, wall, and off-site business signage beyond those carve-outs requires a joint Building Inspector/Board permit.

Only with external, shielded, non-glare lighting in almost all cases. Internally lit, neon, flashing, or moving-part signs are prohibited, with one narrow exception for a small wooden-framed glass-door box lit with shielded white incandescent light.