Signage.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 28-130
in effectSec. 28-130. - Signage.
(a) Notwithstanding the Sign Code or any other city ordinance, code, or regulation to the contrary, it shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of any enterprise or any other person to erect, construct, or maintain any sign for the enterprise other than one primary sign and one secondary sign, as provided herein.
(b) Primary signs shall have no more than two display surfaces. Each such display surface shall:
(1) Not contain any flashing lights;
(2) Be a flat plane, rectangular in shape;
(3) Not exceed 75 square feet in area; and
(4) Not exceed ten feet in height or ten feet in length.
(c) Primary signs shall contain no photographs, silhouettes, drawings or pictorial representations of any manner, and may contain only:
(1) The name of the enterprise; and/or
(2) One or more of the following phrases:
a. "Adult bookstore."
b. "Adult movie theatre."
c. "Adult encounter parlor."
d. "Adult cabaret."
e. "Adult lounge."
f. "Adult novelties."
g. "Adult entertainment."
h. "Adult modeling studio."
(3) Primary signs for adult movie theatres may contain the additional phrase, "Movie Titles Posted on Premises."
(d) Each letter forming a word on a primary sign shall be of a solid color, and each such letter shall be the same print-type, size and color. The background behind such lettering on the display surface of a primary sign shall be of a uniform and solid color.
(e) Secondary signs shall have only one display surface. Such display surface shall:
(1) Be a flat plane, rectangular in shape;
(2) Not exceed 20 square feet in area;
(3) Not exceed five feet in height and four feet in width; and
(4) Be affixed or attached to any wall or door of the enterprise.
(f) The provisions of item (1) of subsection (b) and subsections (c) and (d) shall also apply to secondary signs.
(g) Any sign located on the premises of a commercial multi-unit center containing an enterprise that displays the name, or any portion of the name of the enterprise, any name under which any enterprise was formerly operated on the premises, or that contains any of the terms set forth in item (2) of subsection (c) or any other terminology that is commonly used to identify, or is associated with the presence of a sexually oriented business, shall comply with all restrictions of this section. The intent of this subsection is to prevent the use of signage identifying the commercial multi-tenant center itself from being used as a subterfuge to evade the restrictions on sexually oriented business signs set forth in this section.
(Ord. No. 97-75, § 3, 1-15-97; Ord. No. 02-399, § 58, 5-15-02; Ord. No. 2021-1037, § 20(Exh. I.25), 12-1-2021, eff. 4-1-2022)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH28MIOFPR_ARTIIISEORBU_S28-130SIFetched: 10/26/2026