Skowhegan, ME Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

The Town of Skowhegan Sign Ordinance was adopted at the Annual Town Meeting on June 9, 2025. Section I states its purpose as providing basic guidelines for business and institutional signs, promoting safety and aesthetics in a manner that respects the rights of sign owners. Section III defines a sign as any structure or device used to advertise or convey information about goods, services, or institutions visible from a public way.

Section IV then narrows the reach. The ordinance applies to signs erected for commercial or institutional purposes, and it does not apply to signs placed in or behind windows or to temporary signs displayed for less than 60 days per year. The ordinance prints no cap on how much of a window a sign can cover and no count of temporary signs, so there is no coverage percentage to measure against. A temporary sign that stays up for 60 days or more in a year does not fit that exemption.

The separate Site Plan Review Ordinance repeats the 60-day idea in its definitions: free-standing signs in place for fewer than sixty (60) days per year are considered temporary and are not subject to the requirements of that ordinance.

The exemptions make more sense beside the rules they escape. A sign the Sign Ordinance does cover needs a permit from the Code Enforcement Officer if it is over fifty (50) square feet or illuminated. The permit carries no fee, and the Officer must approve or deny within ten (10) working days. Covered signs must sit at least two (2) feet from property lines, and the printed height limits are twenty (20) feet above ground level or five (5) feet above roof lines. Section XV adds that more restrictive provisions in other ordinances take precedence over the Sign Ordinance.