Camden, Camden County

Camden Sign Company for Downtown, Waterfront and Healthcare Businesses

Gogi Signs designs, permits and installs signs for Camden businesses, from storefronts on Broadway to offices near Rutgers Camden and the hospitals. We prepare the drawing the city’s combined Zoning and Sign Permit Application asks for, sign it as the sign supplier, and build everything in our Linden shop.

Healthcare and office signs

Awnings and building signs that patients find from the curb.

Camden Permits

How a Camden Sign Permit Comes Together

Camden permits signs through the Division of Planning on one application that covers zoning and the sign. Four parts of it decide how quickly a sign gets approved.

Clear the Accounts

No application is accepted while property taxes or water and sewer charges are owed. The tax office must certify both are paid first.

Photograph What Is There

The form asks for photos of every existing sign, whether the new one is lit, its clearance above ground, its materials and colors.

Supplier Drawing

An accurate drawing with dimensions, signed by the sign supplier. As the maker, we prepare and sign it.

Fee and Review

A $79.11 non refundable application fee. Signs over the limit for the property go to the Zoning Board for a variance.

Our crew installing a sign on an older storefront.

Historic and Redevelopment Areas

Some Camden Blocks Add a Second Review

Camden has a Historic Overlay zone, a separate Historic Conservation Overlay and its own rehabilitation guidelines for the Fairview Village historic district. A sign on a property inside one of these areas faces design review on top of the base zone. Redevelopment areas carry site design controls of their own, and those can be stricter than the zone.

On older masonry fronts we usually suggest signs that mount into mortar joints and can come off without damaging the brick, such as blade signs, hand painted signs or flat panels with individual letters. We check the overlay map for your address before we design.

Who We Work With

Signs for the Way Camden Works

Hospitals and Clinics

Building names, entrance and parking wayfinding, ADA room signs and suite directories.

Colleges and Nonprofits

Building identification, donor plaques, lobby signs and event banners.

Corner Stores and Restaurants

Lit cabinets, awnings and window graphics sized to what the property allows.

Waterfront Events

Banners, backdrops and stands for events, delivered and collected.

A Real Camden Example

Why the Allowed Size Matters Before You Order

Camden publishes its Zoning Board agendas, and they show how often sign size becomes the issue.

12 square feet allowed, 20 requested

The July 2024 Zoning Board agenda listed a convenience store whose proposed 20 square foot sign was over the 12 square feet allowed for that property, so it needed a variance. Sizing the sign to the allowance from the start avoids that hearing. If a larger sign is worth asking for, we prepare the drawings for the board.

Start a Camden Project

Send Us the Address

Include a photo of the building and what the sign needs to say. We will check the zone, any historic or redevelopment overlay and the size the property allows, then send a quote.

What Camden's sign ordinance allows

Camden is in Camden County. These are the rules from Camden's own sign ordinance that most often shape what a business can put up.

Source: City of Camden Code, Chapter 870, § 870-253, and the city's Zoning/Sign Permit Application.

Where the rules are

Camden regulates signs in § 870-253 of its zoning chapter, inside the design standards for site plans. Each zone's own article refers back to it, so the zone a property sits in decides which part of § 870-253 applies.

§ 870-253

Historic districts

Camden has a Historic Overlay zone and a separate Historic Conservation Overlay zone, plus dedicated rehabilitation guidelines for the Fairview Village historic district. Signs on properties in these overlays face design review on top of the base zone's limits.

Ch. 870, Arts. XXV, XXVI, XXXV

Redevelopment areas

Properties inside a designated redevelopment area are also subject to that area's own site design controls, which can be stricter than the base zone.

Ch. 870, Art. XXXIV

Getting a sign permit in Camden

One application for zoning and signs

Signs are permitted through the Division of Planning on a combined Zoning/Sign Permit Application. It asks for the sign type (awning, freestanding, hanging, mounted, window and so on), photos of any existing signs, whether the sign is lit, its clearance above ground, materials and colors, and whether the property is in a historic district.

Zoning/Sign Permit Application

The sign drawing must come from the sign maker

The application must include an accurate drawing of the proposed sign with its dimensions, signed by the sign supplier.

Zoning/Sign Permit Application

Fees

The non-refundable sign application fee is $79.11. A billboard application is $395.56.

Zoning/Sign Permit Application

Taxes and water must be current

No application is accepted while property taxes or water and sewer charges are owed. The applicant must get the tax office to certify both accounts are paid before submitting.

Zoning/Sign Permit Application, Part IV

Oversized signs go to a board

By signing the application, the applicant acknowledges that a sign exceeding the maximum requires a variance. The July 2024 Zoning Board agenda, for example, listed a convenience store whose proposed 20 square foot sign exceeded the 12 square feet allowed for that property.

Zoning/Sign Permit Application; ZBA agenda July 2024

Ordinances are amended from time to time, and zone, overlay and lease requirements all apply on top of the figures above. We confirm the current requirements with Camden for your specific property during the site survey, before anything is designed.

Other New Jersey areas we serve

Camden is one of the Camden County communities we serve from Linden, alongside our other New Jersey service areas.

Frequently asked questions about signs in Camden

Do I need a permit for a sign in Camden?

Do you work with landlords and property managers in Camden?

Regularly. Lease sign criteria are often stricter than the town's rules, and both have to be cleared, so we read the criteria alongside the ordinance before a design is finalised.

Do you fabricate the signs you install in Camden?

Yes. We design, fabricate, permit and install from our own shop in Linden rather than brokering the work out, so one company stays accountable from the survey through to the final inspection.

How long does a sign project take in Camden?

Fabrication time depends on the sign, but the variable that usually moves the date most is municipal approval. A flat panel or vinyl job can move quickly; an illuminated sign that needs permits and an electrical inspection takes longer. We give a schedule after the survey, once we know which approvals apply.

What kinds of signs do you make for Camden businesses?

Storefront and building signage, channel letters, illuminated cabinets, interior and ADA signage, wayfinding, window and wall graphics, and vehicle graphics. If you are not sure which suits the site, the survey usually settles it.