Free-standing signs in the city centre zone

Using free-standing signs in the city centre zone

Free-standing signs are signs that:

• stand on their own, without any building or structure for support
• are fixed on or into the ground, or placed on the ground (for example a large A-frame sign)
• exclude portable signs and a flag displayed on a flagpole.

You can display three types of free-standing signs on a site in the city centre zone:

• identification signs
• menu board signs
• wayfinding signs.

All free-standing signs in this zone must:

• be placed on a site, such as a property
• not be placed on a road
• only advertise the business, services, products, activities or events available at the premises on the site.

Displaying free-standing signs in the city centre zone

Identification signs

When you display a free-standing identification sign in the city centre zone, the sign must:

• be a maximum height of 8m and a maximum width of 2m
• use a maximum area of four square metres per sign
• be at least 5m from any building that is taller than 1.5m
• be at least 2m from any side boundary of the site, if the front of the site is wider than 6m
• be a minimum distance of 10m from any other free-standing sign (including free-standing billboards) when the signs are on the same site
• be a minimum distance of 2m from other free-standing signs (including free-standing billboards) when the signs are on different sites.

In the city centre zone there is a limit of:

• one free-standing identification sign (including any free-standing billboards) on a site frontage of 60m or less in length
• two free-standing identification signs (including any free-standing billboards) on a site frontage of between 60m and 100m in length
• three free-standing identification signs (including any free-standing billboards) on a site frontage of 100m or more in length.

Free-standing menu boards

When you display free-standing menu boards in the city centre zone, you can:

• only display one free-standing menu board per drive-through lane
• use a maximum area of 4.5 square metres
• place the menu board next to the drive-through lane, or on the site boundary.

Free-standing wayfinding signs

When you display free-standing wayfinding signs in the city centre zone, you can:

• display two signs per vehicle entrance directly next to the vehicle entrance, and two signs per pedestrian entrance directly next to the pedestrian entrance, if the entrances are separate
• display signs with a maximum height of 2m and a maximum width of 1m
• use a maximum area of 2.2 square metres for each free-standing wayfinding sign.

Find the zone or area for your premises

You can find out the zone for your premises by searching for your address on Geomaps. Under the results tab on the left-hand side of your screen, you will find your property summary including your zone.

You can read a full description of the rules for wall-mounted signs in clause 7 of the Signs Bylaw 2022.