Pontiac, MI Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

Pontiac regulates window signage in two places in the zoning ordinance, and both use the same 25 percent ceiling. Section 5.103.Q lists window signs among the permit-exempt sign categories in Chapter 5: a sign occupying no more than 25 percent of the inside surface of the window area, measured per floor level of a business or building, needs no sign permit at all and is not counted against the building's other sign area allowances. Section 5.106.B covers the temporary version, such as a sale banner or seasonal promotion taped to the glass: a business may display a temporary exterior window sign up to that same 25 percent coverage, but the display cannot run for more than 30 days within any 60-day period, so a business effectively gets a temporary window sign for roughly half the year at most before it must come down or be replaced with a permanent, permitted sign.

Both limits are measured against the window area of the specific business's storefront, floor level by floor level, so a multi-tenant or multi-story building applies the 25 percent cap separately to each tenant's window space rather than to the building as a whole. Signs that exceed the coverage limit, or a temporary sign left up past its 30-day window, are treated as unpermitted signage subject to removal by the Building and Safety Engineering Division under the unsafe and unlawful signs provisions of § 5.102.H.