How Florissant Handles Sign Regulations: A Practical Guide
Florissant maintains 116 local ordinances across all categories, and 4 of those deal specifically with sign regulations. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Florissant falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.
Garage Sale Signs
Florissant allows one on-site garage sale sign plus up to two directional signs, each capped at 6 square feet, but only for the day of an authorized sale. Every sign must come down by 5:00 p.m. that day, and the maximum fine is just $30, though a conviction blocks a new garage sale permit for two years.
Key details: Signs allowed: 1 on-site sign plus up to 2 directional signs. Maximum size: 6 square feet each. Display window: Day of the authorized sale only. Removal deadline: 5:00 p.m. on sale day. Maximum fine: $30 per violation.
Failing to remove garage sale signs by the 5:00 p.m. deadline, exceeding the 6-square-foot size limit, posting more than the one on-site sign plus two directional signs, or posting without the property owner's permission violates Section 520.020(A)(12) and Section 100.080's general penalty provision. The fine is capped at $30, but a conviction disqualifies the violator from obtaining another garage sale permit for two years.
Florissant is more permissive than most cities when it comes to garage sale signs. That said, there are still limits.
Window Signs
Florissant caps window signage at convenience businesses and package liquor stores: no more than 10% of the window may be obstructed by signs that block visibility into the store. The rule sits inside a security ordinance passed after a wave of late-night robberies and carries fines up to $500 or 90 days in jail.
Key details: Applies to: Convenience businesses and package liquor stores. Window sign limit: No more than 10% of window obstructed. Related ban: Window tinting that blocks visibility. Maximum penalty: $500 fine or 90 days jail. Governing section: Florissant Code § 210.2270.
Any person, firm or corporation violating Section 210.2270, including the 10% window-sign obstruction limit, is guilty of an infraction. A conviction carries a fine of up to $500 or up to 90 days' imprisonment, and each day the violation continues is a separate offense.
Digital Billboards
Digital signs are flatly banned in Florissant's Historic District but permitted elsewhere in the city under Section 520.115, provided each image holds for at least 10 seconds and the display never animates, scrolls, flashes or fades. Signs must auto-dim with ambient light, and existing digital signs had 180 days from the 2019 ordinance to comply.
Key details: Governing section: Florissant Code § 520.115, adopted 2019. Historic District: Digital signs prohibited. Minimum image hold: 10 seconds before transition. Brightness cap: 0.3 foot-candles above ambient light. Compliance window: 180 days for pre-existing signs.
A digital sign that transitions faster than every 10 seconds, uses animation, scrolling, flashing or fade effects, lacks automatic ambient-light dimming, or sits in the Historic District violates Section 520.115 and is treated as an unlawful sign under Chapter 520, subjecting the owner to the Building Commissioner's removal order and the sign chapter's general penalty and enforcement provisions.
Freeway-Facing Signs
Billboards aimed at highway traffic in Florissant are capped at 30 feet above the highway's natural grade (50 feet above the sign's own installed grade) and must sit within 100 feet of a national-highway-system right-of-way. They also need 400-foot separation from residential zoning, 1,500 feet from any major interchange, and 500 feet from another billboard on the same side of the road.
Key details: Governing section: Florissant Code § 520.280(E), (F), (H). Max height: 30 ft above highway grade / 50 ft above site grade. Residential setback: 400 feet. Interchange setback: 1,500 feet. Billboard-to-billboard spacing: 500 feet, same side of highway.
A standard outdoor advertising structure that exceeds the 30/50-foot height cap, sits inside any of Section 520.280(F)'s separation buffers, or is not within 100 feet of a national-highway-system right-of-way is an unlawful sign under Chapter 520, subject to removal by the Building Commissioner and the chapter's general sign-violation penalties.
This is not one of those rules that cities tend to ignore. Florissant actively enforces its freeway-facing signs requirements.
The Bottom Line
Florissant's sign regulations rules are a mixed bag. Some areas are strict, others are relaxed, and the details matter. The best approach is to check the specific rule that applies to your situation rather than assuming Florissant is broadly strict or permissive.
Keep in mind that Florissant can amend these rules at any council meeting. For the most current version of any rule mentioned here, check the specific ordinance page, where we track updates as they happen.