Auburn, AL Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

C of the Zoning Ordinance creates a special freestanding sign allowance just for nonresidential development sites near Interstate 85, on top of the general business signage the site already qualifies for under the shopping-center size table earlier in Section 605. Two distance tiers apply. A site any portion of which lies within 1,000 feet of the center point of the interstate overpass centerline may erect one interstate sign up to 250 square feet and 60 feet tall. A site farther out, within one mile (5,280 feet) of that same center point, may erect one interstate sign up to 130 square feet and 30 feet tall, but only if the site abuts the interstate right-of-way, the sign sits along the property edge abutting that right-of-way, is positioned to be read from the interstate, and is set back no more than 20 feet from the interstate right-of-way.

Height for both tiers is measured from the elevation of the interstate highway grade at the center point of the relevant overpass, and the ordinance fixes those benchmark elevations by name: 518 feet at the South College Street overpass, Exit 51, and 664 feet at the Bent Creek Road overpass, Exit 57. Because the interstate sign is additive to, not a substitute for, the site's regular freestanding business sign under the shopping-center table, a large retail center near the interstate can end up with two separate freestanding signs, one for general visibility and the taller interstate sign specifically oriented to traffic on I-85.