A.R.S. 33-1815: HOA Authority Over Commercial Signs in Arizona

Some planned communities include commercially zoned parcels, like a corner retail pad or an office building inside a master-planned development. A.R.S. 33-1815 protects the businesses on those parcels from an HOA that approves a sign and then changes its mind. Once the HOA has approved a commercial sign and the local government has also approved it, a future board cannot revoke or modify that approval. It locks in the decision so a business is not held hostage to the next board election.

The problem this statute fixes

Business signs are expensive, and a company will not invest in branded signage if a new HOA board can rip up the approval a year later. This section removes that risk. It applies to a commercial sign, including a registered trademark, located on property zoned for commercial use inside a planned community. Once approved, the approval sticks.

After an association has approved a commercial sign, including its registered trademark that is located on properties zoned for commercial use in the planned community, the association, including any subsequently elected board of directors, may not revoke or modify its approval of that sign.

The phrase "including any subsequently elected board of directors" is the heart of it. The point is to stop a later board from undoing what an earlier board agreed to.

The condition: local government approval too

The lock-in is not automatic on the HOA's say-so alone. It depends on a second approval. The protection applies if the sign owner or operator has also received approval from the local or county governing body with jurisdiction over the sign.

If the owner or operator of the sign has received approval for the sign from the local or county governing body with jurisdiction over the sign.

So two green lights must line up: the HOA's approval and the city's or county's sign permit. Once both are in hand, the HOA cannot walk back its own approval. If the business never got the municipal sign permit, this protection does not attach, and the HOA's normal authority over the sign continues.

For example, suppose a pharmacy on a commercially zoned pad inside a Casa Grande master-planned community gets the HOA's approval for its trademark sign and then pulls a city sign permit. A new HOA board elected the next year cannot revoke that approval or force the pharmacy to shrink or change the sign. The decision is final once both approvals exist.

What this does not cover

This is a narrow, business-focused protection. It applies only to commercial signs on commercially zoned property. It does not touch the residential sign rules in the chapter, like for-sale signs, flags, or political signs, which are governed by their own statute. It also does not give a business an open-ended right to any sign it wants. The HOA still has to approve the sign in the first place, and the city or county still controls its own permit. What the statute prevents is one specific abuse: an approval being yanked after the fact.

How it connects to the rest of the law

This commercial-sign lock-in sits alongside the residential sign and flag protections in A.R.S. 33-1808 , which cover homeowners rather than businesses. Sign approvals run through the architectural review machinery in A.R.S. 33-1817 and the open-meeting record in A.R.S. 33-1804 , so you can verify when an approval was granted. The HOA's authority over signage flows from the recorded CC&Rs defined in A.R.S. 33-1802 . For the residential side of dealing with HOA review, see how HOA design review affects building a custom home .

Full text and source

Read the current section on the legislature's site: View A.R.S. 33-1815 on azleg.gov .

If your business operates on a commercial pad inside a planned community, keep written proof of both the HOA approval and the city or county sign permit, since this protection only attaches when both are documented.