Stratford, CT Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

The Merritt Parkway restriction sits in Section 6.11.3, the list of prohibited signs. Item 9 bars commercial signs in which the sign faces or is primarily intended to be visible from the Merritt Parkway, except where another public right of way separates the premises from the Merritt Parkway. The test looks at two things: which way the sign face points and what the sign is meant to be seen from.

What counts as a commercial sign matters. Section 6.11.2 defines it as a sign displayed outdoors for the purpose of inducing the sale of any merchandise or service, or promoting the business, opinion or policy of any person, party, firm, association, group or corporation, other than that offered or conducted on the premises on which it stands, and adds that commercial signs include billboards. A highway sign is separately defined as a freestanding, integral, or wall sign erected and maintained within the view of motorists driving on a highway.

Interstate 95 is addressed in Section 6.11.10, which covers the CA, CC, MA, MB and MC Districts. Its wall sign table includes a rear fascia sign that shall face, or be primarily visible from, Interstate 95, and a closing paragraph lets a pre-existing commercial sign be relocated, rebuilt or replaced by special permit with the same display area, and, for signs adjacent to I-95, the same height above I-95. If the property does not abut I-95, commercial signs are not to exceed the surveyed height of the existing sign.

Section 6.11.3(10) also bars commercial signs more than three feet in height within the 20-foot corner triangle at street intersections. Every sign needs a Building Inspector permit under Section 6.11.12.