Redding, CA Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit required
- use permit under Chapter 18.14
- Max sign area
- 400 square feet
- Max height
- 60 feet (70 feet with findings)
- Proximity to freeway
- within 500 feet (1,000 feet of I-5)
- Signs per parcel
- one freeway sign maximum
Summary
Redding allows only one freeway sign per qualifying parcel, capped at 400 square feet and 60 feet tall (70 feet with findings), and requires a discretionary use permit under Section 18.42.040(D). Eligible sites must sit within 500 feet of a freeway lane, or 1,000 feet of I-5, with a large single-tenant building or shopping center.
3.Freeway Signs. Subject to obtaining a use permit pursuant to Chapter 18.14, no more than one freeway sign may be allowed on parcels located not more than five hundred feet from a freeway travel lane and not more than one thousand feet from an Interstate 5 freeway travel lane developed with a single-tenant building of at least one hundred thousand square feet of enclosed retail floor area or which are part of a shopping center site of at least fifteen acres in size or one hundred and fifty thousand square feet of total enclosed retail floor area pursuant to the standards of this chapter. D.Freeway Signs.1.Size. Freeway signs shall not exceed a maximum sign area of four hundred square feet.2.Height. Freeway signs shall not exceed sixty feet in height above surrounding grade; sign height may be increased to a maximum of seventy feet above surrounding grade if the decision-making body finds that trees substantially obscure visibility of the sign from the freeway.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 48).
Full Breakdown
030(E)(3). A qualifying parcel must sit no more than five hundred feet from a freeway travel lane, or within one thousand feet of an Interstate 5 travel lane, and be developed with either a single-tenant building of at least one hundred thousand square feet or a shopping center of at least fifteen acres or one hundred fifty thousand square feet of enclosed retail floor area. Only one freeway sign is allowed per parcel, or per shopping center even if it spans multiple parcels. The sign area is capped at four hundred square feet, and height is limited to sixty feet above surrounding grade, though the decision-making body can approve up to seventy feet if trees obscure visibility or if the site's grade relative to the freeway lane requires the extra height to be seen.
The sign cabinet must sit at least ten feet above grade, its design must match the shopping center's architecture, and it needs perimeter landscaping. , and the sign must go dark whenever none of the advertised businesses are open. 040(E)(2) is not entitled to an additional freeway sign or pole sign.
Violations & Fines
A freeway sign erected without the required Chapter 18.14 use permit, or one that exceeds the four-hundred-square-foot area or sixty/seventy-foot height caps, is treated as an illegal or nonconforming sign under Chapter 18.42, subject to Section 18.42.120's public-nuisance and infraction penalties; the city can also order removal under the abatement procedures in Section 18.42.110 for signs erected without complying with the ordinances in effect at construction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can any business put up a freeway sign in Redding?
How tall and how big can a Redding freeway sign be?
Are there lighting restrictions on freeway signs near homes?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Redding
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