Wyoming's Sign Regulations: The Rules That Matter

Every city handles sign regulations a little differently. In Wyoming, Michigan, there are 6 distinct rules that residents and property owners should be aware of. Some are stricter than what neighboring cities enforce, and others are more relaxed. Here is what you need to know.

Holiday Displays

Wyoming, Michigan's zoning sign ordinance bans commercial string lights outright, but Sec. 90-704's prohibited-signs table carves out one exception: string lights displayed as holiday decorations between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. A companion rule, Sec. 90-705(5)(c), separately exempts bare bulbs from the citywide ban on glaring lighting specifically for holiday displays.

Key details: Holiday window: Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. Bare-bulb exception: Holiday lighting only, Sec. 90-705(5)(c). Daylight brightness cap: 2,000 units. Night brightness cap: 500 units, sunset to sunrise. Enforcement: Certified-mail notice, then city removal.

Sec. 90-711 governs enforcement: a string-light or bare-bulb display left up past New Year's Day, or illuminated commercial lighting run outside the holiday window, is processed as an illegally erected or unsafe sign. The chief building official sends written notice by certified mail to the property owner and sign owner describing the violation and the removal or repair deadline; if the owner misses it, the city removes the display and bills the owner for the cost.

Digital Billboards

Wyoming, Michigan lets off-premises billboards run digital, LED electronic message centers, but Sec. 90-709(8) makes it conditional: the applicant must first demolish four nonconforming signs citywide (or three inside the Form Based Code districts), keep the new digital board 2,500 feet from another moving-image billboard facing the same direction, and limit every display to one product or message that changes no more than once every seven seconds.

Key details: Permit precondition: Demolish 4 nonconforming signs citywide. FBC-district trade: Demolish 3 nonconforming signs instead. Spacing: 2,500 ft between same-direction LED billboards. Message change: No faster than every 7 seconds. Content limit: One message per face at a time.

A digital billboard installed without first demolishing the required nonconforming signs, built closer than 2,500 feet to another same-direction LED display, or running split-screen or faster-than-seven-second message changes is an illegal sign under Sec. 90-711; the building official orders written notice and removal or repair, and unremedied violations let the city take the sign down and bill the owner.

Compared to other cities, Wyoming takes a harder line on digital billboards. The enforcement and penalty structure reflects that.

Political Signs

Political signs in the City of Wyoming, Michigan are exempt from a sign permit under Zoning Ordinance Table 90-703, but size is capped at six square feet in residential districts and 32 square feet per street frontage in nonresidential districts, only one sign per candidate or issue is allowed, and every sign must come down within five days after the election.

Key details: Governing table: Table 90-703 (Sec. 90-703). Residential size limit: 6 square feet. Nonresidential size limit: 32 sq ft per street frontage. Per-candidate limit: 1 sign per candidate or issue. Removal deadline: Within 5 days after the election.

A political sign left up past the five-day post-election window, oversized for its district, or duplicated for the same candidate is an illegally erected sign under Sec. 90-711. The building official notifies the owner by certified mail to remove it, and if it stays up, the city can remove the sign itself and bill the property owner for the removal cost.

If you are coming from a city with tighter rules, you will find Wyoming gives residents more flexibility on political signs.

Window Signs

Wyoming, Michigan caps window signage in its nonresidential zoning districts (B-1, B-2, B-3, RO-1, I-1, I-2, I-3) at 15 percent of a business's total wall frontage area, combining temporary and permanent window signs together. Temporary paper or fabric window signs need no separate permit but still count toward that 15 percent cap under Zoning Ordinance § 90-708.

Key details: Window sign cap: 15% of wall frontage area. Applies in: B-1, B-2, B-3, RO-1, I-1, I-2, I-3. Temp. window sign permit: Not required. Temp. window sign material: Paper or fabric only. Damaged sign rule: Must be removed immediately.

A window sign exceeding the 15 percent wall-frontage cap, or a damaged temporary paper/fabric sign left up past footnote (f)'s removal requirement, is a Code violation subject to the city's general municipal civil infraction schedule at Wyoming Code of Ordinances § 1-27: a $75.00 civil fine for a first offense, $500.00 for a second offense within one year, and $2,500.00 for a third or subsequent offense within one year, plus costs; each day a violation continues is a separate offense.

Freeway-Facing Signs

Wyoming, Michigan draws a hard line at freeway frontage: Sec. 90-709(1) confines off-premises billboards to parcels abutting a freeway, no farther than 300 feet from the right-of-way, while Sec. 90-708's Expressway Business Pole Sign category lets businesses in the B-2, B-3, I-1, I-2 and I-3 districts abutting a freeway erect a larger, taller on-premises pole sign than anywhere else in the city.

Key details: Billboard freeway setback: Within 300 ft of ROW, Sec. 90-709(1). Ramp intersection setback: 300 ft. Max billboard size: 672 sq ft within 100 ft of ROW. Billboard spacing: 750 ft same direction, 1,500 ft same side. Expressway pole sign: 300 sq ft, 60 ft height, Table 90-708.

An off-premises or expressway pole sign built without the required freeway-abutting location, setback or spacing is processed under Sec. 90-711 as an illegally erected sign: the building official mails the property and sign owner written notice describing the violation and a compliance deadline, and if it is not met the city removes the sign and bills the removal cost to the owner.

Garage Sale Signs

Garage and estate sale signs in the City of Wyoming, Michigan are exempt from a sign permit under Zoning Ordinance Table 90-703, but only if the household sticks to one sign, keeps it entirely on the property being sold from, stays under six square feet, takes it down within one business day, and holds no more than six sale days a year.

Key details: Governing table: Table 90-703 (Sec. 90-703). Sign limit: 1 sign per premises. Maximum size: 6 square feet. Removal deadline: Within 1 business day after the sale. Frequency cap: 6 days per calendar year.

A garage sale sign that exceeds six square feet, is not removed within one business day, or is posted off the seller's own property is treated as an illegally erected sign under Sec. 90-711. The building official can order it removed by certified mail notice, and if it is not taken down, the city may remove it and bill the property owner for the cost.

The rules around garage sale signs in Wyoming lean permissive, but that does not mean anything goes.

The Bottom Line

Compared to many U.S. cities, Wyoming gives residents more room on sign regulations. 2 of the 6 rules here are rated permissive. But permissive does not mean unregulated. There are still requirements, and the city does enforce them when violations are reported.

These rules come from Wyoming's publicly available municipal code. For complete penalty schedules, exemption details, and answers to common questions, see the individual ordinance pages throughout this guide.