Kalamazoo, MI Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

A freeway sign is defined in § 50-9.5A(2) as a type of freestanding sign whose message is directed toward vehicle traffic on a freeway or interstate, distinguishing it from the ordinary freestanding signs allowed in the same commercial and manufacturing district group. Table 9.5-1 places freeway signs in the same district row as the M-1, M-2, BTR, and Community Commercial zones, but layers on additional conditions beyond the standard freestanding sign allowance: only one freeway sign is permitted per lot, and only for lots within 200 feet of a highway right-of-way.

In Community Commercial districts, a special use permit from the City is required before a freeway sign can go up at all, meaning the Planning Commission must approve it as a discretionary use rather than a by-right sign. The maximum sign area is 150 square feet, well below the up-to-200-square-foot allowance for ordinary freestanding signs in the CC, M, and BTR districts, but the height allowance is far larger at 80 feet, dwarfing the 18-to-25-foot cap that applies to standard freestanding signs in the same districts.

The sign must be set back 10 feet from the property line and physically oriented toward highway vehicle traffic rather than toward the adjacent street grid. Because a freeway sign counts as a freestanding sign for allowance purposes, a lot that installs one cannot also claim a second freestanding sign under the general 1-per-lot-frontage rule unless the lot frontage exceeds 300 feet.