Skip to main content
PermitBase

Sign Permit in Plain City, Utah

Plain City requires a sign permit from the Chief Building Official before any sign is erected, maintained, or remodeled on public or private property, per City Code § 10-12-5(J). The city's Sign Regulations chapter (Title 10, Chapter 12) sets detailed size, copy-area, clearance, and location standards, but Plain City's published Consolidated Fee Schedule does not break out a distinct dollar sign-permit fee — sign permits appear to be assessed under the same Council-set fee structure as other zoning/building permits.

Reviewed 2026-07-20 · Source

When you need this permit

  • It shall be unlawful to erect or maintain or remodel any sign upon or over public or private property within the city until a sign permit has been obtained from the Chief Building Official, per § 10-12-5(J)
  • Copy area of building facade signs or multiple copy signs shall not exceed 20% of the background facing to which it is applied, per § 10-12-5(C)
  • Minimum clearance of 10 feet between finished grade and the bottom of a projecting sign (nameplates, public necessity signs, and monument signs excepted), per § 10-12-5(B)
  • The following signs are exempt from a sign permit/zoning regulations: memorial tablets; nameplates ≤2 sq ft; nonilluminated real estate/construction signs ≤36 sq ft (max 1 per street frontage, erected no more than 30 days before construction and removed within 30 days after completion); nonilluminated religious/charitable/educational ground signs ≤12 sq ft; and nonilluminated professional/home-occupation signs ≤4 sq ft, per § 10-12-7
  • Specialty signs — wind signs, banner signs, portable signs, A-frame signs, and other specialty signs — are prohibited in the city, per § 10-12-9
  • Off-premise signs (billboards) are prohibited; legally existing off-premise signs made nonconforming by the current ordinance must be removed within 5 years of written notice, per § 10-12-10(A)

Required documents

Check off what you have — your progress is saved on this device.

Not ready yet — 0 of 1 required documents checked.

This checker covers one permit. A full project usually triggers several — our paid checklist will assemble all of them, from $29 →

Fee schedule

Sign PermitPlain City's Consolidated Fee Schedule (Resolution 2024-07 exhibit, revision 06/06/2024) does not list a distinct sign-permit dollar fee; City Code § 10-1-5(L) ("Fees Prescribed By City Council") states the City Council may, by resolution, prescribe fees to cover the expense of examining plans, issuing building permits, inspecting uses, and issuing certificates of occupancy (verified live 2026-07-22 against the actual ordinance text -- § 10-1-6 is the Building Permit section itself and has no subsection L; the fee-authorization clause is § 10-1-5(L), corrected from an earlier miscitation). A 2026-07-20 re-chase re-fetched and visually rendered the full Resolution 2024-07 fee table (every line item, Monthly Service Fees through RV Temporary Occupancy Permit) -- confirmed it is genuinely a single page with no Sign Permit or general Building Permit valuation-fee line item at all; checked Plain City's Forms/Applications/Fees page for a separate building-permit valuation fee table and found none published. Confirm the current sign-specific fee amount directly with the Plain City Building Department. A second re-chase on 2026-07-20 tried further avenues: (1) checked whether Plain City contracts building/sign permitting to Weber County (as some smaller Weber County cities do, e.g. Riverdale for some services) -- ruled out: Plain City Code § 9-1-3 confirms the city runs its own in-house process (application forwarded from the City Recorder to the city's own Building Inspector, who returns plans within 10 days), not a county-run process, so no county fee schedule applies. (2) Found and checked Plain City's alternate/mirror domain, plaincityutah.org (indexed alongside the .gov site, same CivicPlus-family platform), including its own 'Building' page (fetched via Wayback since the live domain did not respond) -- content matches the .gov site with no additional or different fee-schedule PDF. (3) Read Plain City Council's January 15, 2026 regular meeting minutes in full (245KB PDF) -- confirmed a real agenda item, 'A site plan was reviewed for a sign for Sunflower Assisted Living' (a Planning Commission report item), but the minutes record only that the site plan was reviewed, with no fee amount, resolution, or dollar figure discussed anywhere in the document. (4) Ran a full CDX (Wayback) sweep of plaincityutah.gov for every URL containing 'fee' -- confirmed only the same Resolution 2024-07 Fee Schedule and an unrelated Parks & Facilities Reservation Fees document exist; no separate sign or building valuation fee document has ever been published on the domain. No new dollar figure was recovered; this remains genuinely unpublished. A THIRD re-chase on 2026-07-23 specifically tested whether the § 9-1-4 fee mechanism separately established elsewhere in this file (Table 1-A of the 1997 UBC, used to close the Residential/Commercial/Tenant-Improvement/EV-Charger Building Permit fee gaps in this same file on this same date) could close this gap too -- it does not transfer cleanly: § 9-1-4 sits in Title 9 ('Building Code') and is textually scoped to 'fees authorized in the IBC,' whereas Plain City's sign permit requirement lives in Title 10, Chapter 12 ('Sign Regulations'), a zoning-title provision enforced under the separate general fee-authorization clause at § 10-1-5(L) ('Fees Prescribed By City Council') -- itself confirmed (re-fetched live 2026-07-23) to state only that the Council 'may, by resolution, prescribe fees,' with no dollar figure or cross-reference to Table 1-A. Also checked and ruled out on 2026-07-23: (1) Plain City's Forms & Applications page (plaincityutah.gov/1308/Forms-Applications, re-fetched live) lists no standalone 'Sign Permit Application' document at all among its ~35 forms -- confirming there truly is no distinct sign-permit intake with its own printed fee to check; (2) Plain City Code § 10-1-6 ('Building Permit'), the Title 10 zoning-title permit-requirement section adjoining the sign code, was re-fetched live and requires only 'a written permit... by the chief building official' for 'any structure,' with no fee language or Table 1-A cross-reference of its own. Extending § 9-1-4's IBC-scoped language to a Title-10 zoning sign permit would require an invented linkage this file's zero-fabrication policy does not permit -- the gap remains genuinely open pending direct confirmation from the Building Department.
Not separately published — assessed under the general Council-set permit fee structure

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Sign Permit permit actually take in Plain City?

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

Inspection process

    See the full Plain City inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

    Tips

    • A-frame signs, banner signs, and portable signs are outright prohibited as "specialty signs" in Plain City, per § 10-12-9 — this is stricter than several neighboring Utah cities that permit these sign types with a fee.
    • Off-premise advertising (billboards) is prohibited citywide; legally existing nonconforming off-premise signs face mandatory removal within 5 years of written notice from the Chief Building Official.
    • Several small sign types are exempt from permitting entirely — nameplates under 2 sq ft, real estate/construction signs under 36 sq ft, and small professional/home-occupation signs under 4 sq ft — confirm your specific sign against § 10-12-7 before assuming a permit is required.

    Frequently asked questions

    Generally yes — City Code § 10-12-5(J) makes it unlawful to erect, maintain, or remodel any sign without a permit from the Chief Building Official. A short list of small signs (nameplates, real estate/construction signs under 36 sq ft, memorial tablets, and small professional/home-occupation signs) are exempt under § 10-12-7.

    In Plain City, the published Sign Permit is: Not separately published — assessed under the general Council-set permit fee structure. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

    Plain City does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact Plain City Building Department at (801) 731-4908 for current turnaround.

    You'll need: Sign Permit Application. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

    Apply through Plain City Building Department at 4160 W 2200 N, Plain City, UT 84404. Phone: (801) 731-4908. Office hours: Mon–Thurs 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Fri 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM noon; closed Saturday and Sunday. Official information: https://www.plaincityutah.gov/1268/Building.

    Plain City, Utah has adopted: International Building Code (IBC) — adopted per Plain City Code § 9-1-1(A) pursuant to Utah Code Annotated § 58-56-4(2) and Utah Administrative Code R156-56-701, as modified by chapter 11 of the supplement to the IBC promulgated by the International Code Council, and amended per statewide amendments in Utah Administrative Code R156-56-704 (automatically updated per § 9-1-1(C) whenever the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing/Uniform Building Code Commission adopts new statewide amendments). Per Utah Code § 15A-2-103 (re-verified live 2026-07-23), the statewide-adopted edition is now the 2024 IBC (including Appendices C and J), which took effect July 1, 2026 and supersedes the prior 2021 IBC edition (effective July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026) — Plain City's automatic-adoption clause carries this forward without any local ordinance action required.; International Residential Code (IRC) — adopted by reference within IBC standards per Plain City Code § 9-1-1(A) ('...together with standards incorporated into the IBC by reference, including...the international residential code (IRC) promulgated by the International Code Council'). Statewide-adopted edition is the 2021 IRC per Utah Code § 15A-2-103 — re-verified live 2026-07-23; the 2026-07-01 statewide IBC transition to the 2024 edition did NOT carry the IRC forward, so 2021 remains current.; International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) — adopted by reference within IBC standards per Plain City Code § 9-1-1(A). Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(h) specifies the current statewide-adopted edition as the 2024 IECC (re-verified live 2026-07-23). Plain City's Residential Building Permit Plan Submittal Requirements (Doc 475) additionally requires a REScheck energy analysis report showing compliance with the model energy code, passing by a minimum of 3% if using the Utah Energy Conservation Method.; Statewide plumbing, mechanical, and electrical codes (IPC/IMC/NEC) apply uniformly across Utah municipalities under the State Construction Code (Utah Code Title 15A) but are not separately codified in Plain City's own municipal code sections located during this research; Plain City's plan submittal checklists (Docs 475, Accessory Building Doc) require electrical, plumbing, and mechanical plans as part of the IRC-governed construction drawings, consistent with statewide adoption rather than a distinct local ordinance.. Local amendments apply — see the Plain City overview page for the full list.

    No — City Code § 10-12-9 prohibits wind signs, banner signs, portable signs, A-frame signs, and other specialty signs citywide.

    Other permits in Plain City

    Residential Building PermitDetached Accessory Dwelling Unit (DADU) PermitCommercial Building PermitCommercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish PermitSolar PV Installation PermitEV Charger / EVSE PermitFire Sprinkler System PermitFire Alarm System PermitChange of Use / Certificate of Occupancy Permit

    Sign Permit in other cities

    Alpine, UtahAmerican Fork, UtahBountiful, UtahBrigham City, UtahCedar City, UtahCedar Hills, UtahCenterville, UtahClearfield, Utah

    Compare sign permit fees across Utah →

    Look up this fee in a different city →

    Embed this data card →

    Now live

    Build your Plain City project checklist

    Describe your project once and get every permit, document, and fee it triggers in Plain City — in one checklist. Sign up and pay once to generate it, or go unlimited with Pro.

    Get started →