Novi, MI Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Novi's sign chapter has no stand-alone 'political sign' category; instead Section 28-9 protects noncommercial speech by letting it appear on any sign already permitted under the chapter and by carving out space for temporary noncommercial signs, a category that covers ordinary political and election yard signs, in the public right-of-way. Ordinarily no sign may project into a public right-of-way at all under Section 28-4, so Section 28-9's right-of-way allowance is a real exception, but it only applies if there is no room to place the sign on private property, and even then the sign must sit at least 10 feet from the traveled portion of the street or road shoulder.

The building official can approve a closer placement only if the property has less than 10 feet between the road and any building, the sign is set as far back as possible while staying visible, and it does not obstruct driver sightlines or traffic control devices; that permission can be revoked if the closer placement later proves to cause a traffic hazard. Temporary signs generally need no permit under Section 28-6 and are capped by a table keyed to use, running from 10 square feet total for single-family residential up to 64 square feet total for nonresidential uses outside the RA through R-4, RT, and MH districts.

Section 28-6(a) overrides that table for elections specifically: for 60 days before through 3 days after any city-designated election day with at least one ballot item, the citywide cap for total temporary sign area rises to 64 square feet in every district, including single-family residential, though the maximum size of any one individual sign stays at the level in the regular table.