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

Article IX was adopted under Alabama's 1971 Highway Beautification Act to control outdoor advertising in the "adjacent area," defined as land within 660 feet of the right-of-way of any interstate or federal-aid primary highway. Section 1 makes it unlawful to erect or maintain an outdoor advertising structure in that adjacent area unless it is a directional or official sign, a sign advertising the sale or lease of the property it sits on, a sign advertising an activity conducted on that same property, or a commercial/industrial/business-zoned billboard that follows the Section 3 guidelines on size, lighting and spacing.

Section 3 caps any qualifying sign at 1,200 square feet of face area, 30 feet in height and 60 feet in length, and allows a single structure to carry two faces (double-faced, back-to-back or V-type) as long as the combined area of two same-direction faces stays within 1,200 square feet. Spacing rules require 1,000 feet between sign structures on the same side of an interstate, 500 feet along other qualifying highways, and allow the distance to drop to 250 feet if one of the two structures carries no face larger than 150 square feet.

Height on interstates and freeways is capped at 50 feet, or 30 feet above the highway grade, whichever is greater, unless the board of adjustment grants a variance; on primary highways inside city zoning authority, height instead follows the underlying zoning district. Section 4 requires any lawful nonconforming billboard to be removed within five years of becoming nonconforming, though the board of adjustment can let outdoor advertising signs remain longer, and a sign damaged beyond 60 percent of its replacement value cannot be rebuilt except in conformity with the article.