Dearborn Heights, MI Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Sec. 26-10(3) of the City Code exempts political signs from the chapter's general sign prohibitions, defining them as signs advertising a political candidate, a forthcoming election, or urging a vote on any topic. The size cap is 4.5 square feet, and every sign has to be placed so it does not obstruct the vision of a bicyclist or a motor vehicle driver on the city's streets and alleyways. The subsection bars placing any sign, placard, sticker or banner on public property, a public right-of-way or street easement, telephone, electric, streetlight or traffic control poles or related equipment, a public tree, an authorized sign of the state or a political subdivision, or on vacant property without the vacant-property owner's consent.

Timing is tightly controlled: a political sign cannot be installed more than 30 days before the election or vote to which it pertains, and the property owner must have it removed within five days after the election or vote. Sec. 26-10(3)(d) exempts billboards erected before May 28, 2003 from this subsection, preserving pre-existing large-format advertising structures. The Building and Engineering Department administers Chapter 26, and the zoning board of appeals under Sec. 26-18 handles disputes and variance requests over sign placement. Because signs fall under the Class C schedule in Sec.

1-11(e), an oversized political sign, one posted too early, one left up past the five-day removal window, or one on public property, is a municipal civil infraction fined $200 for a first offense, $400 for a second offense within a year, and $800 for a third or subsequent offense.