Petaluma, CA Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

020(J) as any sign mounted to a building's primary wall facing the freeway with no other building in the visibility window between it and the freeway. Subsection A bars issuance of any permit to erect, construct or relocate a sign, billboard or advertising structure designed to be viewed primarily from the main traveled roadway of a freeway or its ramps, regardless of location, unless the Zoning Administrator first makes that determination, except for freeway oriented wall signs approved as part of a master sign program for a retail shopping center with Highway 101 building frontage.

090. For the shopping center exception, Subsection D imposes detailed standards: freeway oriented signs must be permanent wall-mounted signs, freestanding freeway oriented signs are prohibited entirely, wall-mounted lettering cannot exceed 2 feet in height, and only one such sign is allowed per qualifying tenant. Tenant size tiers set maximum letter height at 18 inches for 8,000 to 19,999-square-foot tenants and 24 inches for tenants of 20,000 square feet or more. Sign area is calculated at 1 square foot per linear foot of freeway-fronting façade up to 60 square feet, maximum sign length cannot exceed 30 feet, cabinet signs are prohibited, and the signs cannot blink, flash, flutter, or change light intensity or color. 140 shopping center exception. 140(E) additionally requires Caltrans referral and compliance with the California Outdoor Advertising Act, Business and Professions Code Section 5200.