The Montgomery County Planning Commission's signage guide and model sign ordinance provides a comprehensive approach to sign regulations by incorporating best practices from communities around the country, appropriate federal and state statutes, and provisions based on recent leading court decisions involving signage. The model sign ordinance includes regulations for both on-premises and off-premises signs (i.e., billboards) as well as detailed general regulations including an extensive sign illumination regulations section. The first seven parts of this guide include detailed information regarding the impact of signs, the need for sign regulation, other state and federal laws governing signs, different approaches to sign regulation, and the complexities of new signage technologies. All of this information was used when crafting content-neutral sign regulations that fit the context of the parcel size and ori-entation, zoning district, and community character.
