Troy, MI Sign Regulations: Garage Sale Signs (2026)

Troy's sign code treats a yard-sale or garage-sale sign as a "temporary sign," defined in Sec. 85.01.03 as a sign made of paper, cloth, canvas, plastic, cardboard, wallboard, or plywood, without a permanent foundation, that is intended or determined by the Zoning Administrator to be displayed only for a limited time. Sec. 85.01.04(A)(5) exempts temporary signs from the permit requirement that applies to most other signs, but Sec. 85.03.02 still regulates them closely.

On any one site, the total combined area of all temporary signs cannot exceed 14 square feet, and no individual temporary sign can exceed 6 square feet. None can stand taller than 42 inches above average mean grade of the yard where it sits. Placement is restricted too: a temporary sign cannot be attached to a utility pole, cannot sit in the public right-of-way, and cannot be located closer than 20 feet to the edge of the traveled roadway. It also cannot be positioned so it interferes with, obstructs, confuses, or misleads traffic, and it has to respect the corner-clearance triangle set out in Sec. 85.01.05(B). Before putting one up, the resident needs the permission of the property owner where the sign will sit, which matters for a sign posted at a neighbor's curb or a shared entrance.

Timing is the other half of the rule: a temporary sign must come down within 60 days of being placed, with the code carving out only signs on property that is actually for sale or lease as an exception to that 60-day clock. A garage-sale sign left up well past the weekend, in other words, is not just untidy, it is out of compliance with Sec. 85.03.02(A)(3).