Sign Permit (Advertising Sign) — Unincorporated Carbon County, Utah · Requirements sheet
Reviewed 2026-07-22 · Source: https://www.carbon.utah.gov/department/planning-zoning/
PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency. Requirements change and vary by project — confirm current details with the building department before you submit.
Sign Permit (Advertising Sign) in Unincorporated Carbon County, Utah
Carbon County DOES have a real, currently-adopted sign ordinance for unincorporated land — Development Code §3.3.26 'Advertising Signs,' most recently amended by Ord. 545 (3/17/2021) — even though this ordinance is not surfaced on the Building Permits or Commercial/Industrial checklist pages (this file's commercial-building-permit entry previously found no distinct sign process because it only checked the Building Department's own pages, not the separately-hosted Development Code). The permit is issued by the Zoning Administrator (part of the Planning & Zoning function, not the Building Department) for any advertising sign not falling within a list of exempted sign types. No dollar-amount fee for this permit could be located anywhere on the county's official sites (carbon.utah.gov, the Development Code, or the Land Use Applications page's fee list, which covers subdivisions/conditional-use/rezone fees but never mentions signs) — genuinely undocumented, not omitted.
Reviewed 2026-07-22 · Source
When you need this permit
- It is unlawful to erect a sign or advertising structure without first obtaining a permit from the Zoning Administrator, UNLESS the sign is one of the ordinance's specifically exempted types (per Development Code §3.3.26)
- Exempted sign types, permitted in all zones without a permit: Real Estate Sale Signs (on-premise, ≤32 sq ft, no more than 1 per 1,320 feet of frontage); Political Signs (≤32 sq ft, must be removed within 15 days after the applicable election); Unlighted Identification Nameplates (≤10 sq ft, one per premises); Institutional Identification Signs (≤32 sq ft, for an appurtenant public/charitable/religious institution); Government Signs; Public (non-advertising) Signs (e.g. utility information, danger, trespass, exit/entrance signs); Agricultural Products Signs (≤32 sq ft, advertising products grown on the same property)
- All other advertising signs (accessory and non-accessory) are permitted only in zones where signs are listed as a permitted use, subject to the ordinance's terms and conditions
- No sign may be positioned so as to create an unsafe visual clearance at any intersection or driveway
- Freestanding non-accessory signs must be set back from public streets at least the same distance required for buildings in that zone, unless the Zoning Administrator approves otherwise, and must be maintained safely with the base area kept free of noxious weeds and debris
- Any non-accessory sign located within 660 feet of the right-of-way of a Federal or state highway must be approved by the Utah Department of Transportation (the ordinance still refers to its predecessor name, the 'Utah State Highway Department') BEFORE construction, in addition to the county permit; this does not apply to signs not visible from such highways
Required documents
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Fee schedule
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Inspection process
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Tips
- This permit exists in the Development Code even though it is invisible from the Building Permits and Commercial/Industrial Structures pages that this file's other permitTypes entries were built from — those pages are maintained by the Building Department, while sign permits are issued by the separate Zoning Administrator/Planning & Zoning function. Always check the Development Code directly (hosted at hosting.civiclinq.com/carboncounty, linked from the county's Planning & Zoning page) for zoning-level permit requirements the Building Department's own pages don't mention.
- A wide range of common small signs are exempt outright (real estate, political, nameplate, institutional, government, public, agricultural) — confirm whether a planned sign actually needs a permit before assuming one is required.
- Signs near a Federal or state highway (within 660 feet of the ROW) need UDOT approval in addition to, and before, the county permit.
- No dollar-amount fee for this permit is published anywhere on the county's official sites — contact Planning & Zoning at (435) 636-3260 for a current quote before applying.
Frequently asked questions
Sources & verification
Key facts verified against official sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-22.
Fees, timelines, and adopted codes are researched from each jurisdiction's published records — see how we verify. Requirements change and vary by project, so always confirm the current details with the Unincorporated Carbon County building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.
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