Billboards & Sign Control
Fighting billboard proliferation to protect Michigan's scenic corridors.
Fighting billboard proliferation to protect Michigan's scenic corridors.
Michigan's roadways are some of the most beautiful in the nation, winding through forests, along lakeshores, and across rolling farmland. But for decades, unchecked billboard construction has threatened to turn these scenic corridors into commercial strips, distracting drivers and degrading the visual character of our communities.
Billboard companies have repeatedly lobbied the state legislature to weaken existing protections, seeking to increase sign sizes, reduce spacing requirements, and introduce digital billboards along highways. These efforts, if successful, would accelerate the visual degradation of Michigan's most traveled routes.
Scenic Michigan has been at the forefront of billboard control in Michigan since our founding. Our accomplishments include spearheading the successful 2006 legislation that banned any new billboard permits in Michigan — a landmark achievement that remains in effect today.
We've beaten numerous attempts in the state legislature to loosen Michigan's billboard restrictions, banned tobacco advertising on billboards, banned the construction of new double-decker billboards, and supported the passage of LOGO and T.O.D.S. signing systems that provide information to motorists without the visual blight of commercial billboards.
We've also filed amicus curiae briefs supporting successful billboard restrictions in Holland, East Lansing, Clawson, and Livonia — helping communities maintain their right to control their own visual landscapes.
Our recently updated Michigan Sign Guidebook (2nd Edition, 2021) provides essential guidance about the local planning and regulation of business and advertising signs. This valuable resource covers how to regulate different sign types, approaches to regulation that preserve content neutrality (a critical issue under federal First Amendment law), and how communities can develop ordinances that minimize legal risks while enhancing scenic quality.
By purchasing the Sign Regulation Guidebook, you support our mission while gaining an indispensable tool for community planning.