Mosinee, WI Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit needed
- None for on-premises window signs
- Governing section
- Sec. 42-929(f)(2)
- Definition
- Fully inside building, visible from street
- Temporary signs
- 25 sq ft or less also permit-free
- Unpermitted covered sign
- Declared a public nuisance
- Issuing officer
- Zoning inspector
Summary
The City of Mosinee requires a zoning inspector permit before any sign goes up, but Sec. 42-929(f)(2) carves out window signs entirely. A window sign, defined as one located completely within an enclosed building and visible from a public way, can advertise a business, product or service on the premises without any city permit, application or fee.
Window sign means any sign located completely within an enclosed building and visible from a public way. ... (2)Window signs. Window signs directing attention to a business or profession conducted on the premises or to a product, service or entertainment sold or offered on such premises shall be permitted without a permit.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 42-929(a) makes a sign permit from the zoning inspector mandatory before anyone erects, relocates, reconstructs or maintains a sign in the City of Mosinee, with an application under subsection (b) covering dimensions, materials, illumination, wiring, height and distance from the lot line. Subsection (c) sets tiered fees keyed to sign valuation (up to $300, over $300 and over $1,000, each set by the common council from time to time), plus a separate electrical permit fee for wired signs. Subsection (f) then lists two exceptions.
The first covers temporary real estate, political and construction site signs, which need no permit as long as they stay under 25 square feet. The second, at (f)(2), exempts window signs outright: any sign directing attention to a business, profession, product, service or entertainment on the premises is permitted without a permit, provided it stays completely inside the building and only shows through the glass to the public way. Once a sign leaves the window and is mounted on the wall, a pole or the roof, it falls back under the general permit rule and the construction standards of Sec.
42-951. The building inspector still handles post-installation inspection of any permitted sign under Sec. 42-929(d), and a sign holder whose permit is revoked can appeal to the zoning board of appeals under subsection (e).
Violations & Fines
Window signs carry no permit to violate, but a sign wrongly treated as exempt because it is not truly confined inside the building is an unpermitted sign under Sec. 42-929(a). Sec. 42-930(c) declares any sign built or kept in violation of the division a public nuisance; the zoning inspector can sue to abate it, in addition to the penalty already set in Sec. 42-67, and dilapidated or abandoned signs can be removed by the building inspector at the owner's cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a city permit for a sign inside my store window in Mosinee?
What counts as a 'window sign' under the ordinance?
What if I want a sign on the outside of the building instead?
Can the city make me take down a sign that violates the rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mosinee
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Window Signs in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Marathon County handle window signs.