Rock Island County, IL Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

639(B), freestanding signs in the county's business districts (B-1 Neighborhood Business, B-2 Central Business, and B-3 Community Business) generally must conform to the chapter's height regulations, capped at 25 feet. The code then carves out a specific exception for freeway visibility: within 660 feet of the interstate highway, exit ramps excluded from that distance measurement, one sign on a standard per premises may exceed the ordinary limitation, so long as it does not exceed a height of five feet above the centerline of the nearest pavement of the interstate road (ramps again excluded) and can actually be seen from that point on the highway.

The provision effectively lets a single freeway-facing sign per property be taller than a typical business-district freestanding sign, but ties the allowable height directly to the interstate's own grade rather than granting an open-ended increase. 639, including the setback formula in division (C) (one foot from the front property line for signs up to 100 square feet, with an added foot of setback for each additional ten square feet of sign area) and the general spacing rule in division (D) that no freestanding sign may sit nearer than two feet to another sign, building, or structure.

639(F), which caps them at 300 square feet per face, 25 feet in height, and requires 1,500 feet of separation between advertising signs facing the same direction on the same street. This target's provision applies to the unincorporated county only; the city of Rock Island and other municipalities inside the county administer their own separate sign codes.