Tigard, OR Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

Tigard Municipal Code § 18.435.015 defines a freeway-oriented sign as a sign primarily designed to be read by a motorist traveling on a highway designated by the Oregon State Highway Department as a freeway or expressway. The definition names Interstate 5 and Oregon State Highway 217 as freeways and states that Highway 99W is not a freeway, so a sign along 99W does not qualify.

Section 18.435.090.D then sets nine standards in the City of Tigard, Washington County. Signs requiring a permit under the Oregon Motorist Information Act get the affidavits required under ORS 377.723 only after a local sign permit has been approved. Freeway-oriented signs are allowed only in the COM, MUE, TMU, and IND zones and must be located within 200 feet of Highway 217 or Interstate 5 rights-of-way. A maximum of one is allowed per premises. The maximum height is 35 feet from ground level at the base. The maximum area is 160 square feet per face and a total of 320 square feet for all faces. The sign must be oriented to be viewed from the freeway, and it is allowed only as a freestanding sign.

A premises that builds a freeway-oriented sign still gets one additional freestanding sign, provided all other provisions of the chapter are met and the two signs sit on separate frontages with different orientations.

Permit steps come from other sections. Under § 18.435.020 all permanent signs require a sign permit, and each sign on its own supporting structure needs a separate permit. Sign permit applications are processed through a Type I procedure under § 18.435.030, and approval is effective for 90 days from the date of approval under § 18.435.040. An electronic information sign cannot replace or supplement a freeway-oriented sign under § 18.435.090.C.3.c, and § 18.435.070.I prohibits billboards.