When Rockville, Maryland, undertook a comprehensive rewrite of its zoning ordinance, signs were only a small piece of a much larger puzzle. But for the sign industry — and for the businesses that rely on signs to be seen, found and remembered — that small piece mattered.
ISA was alerted to the code changes by a member company and offered to help. Over the course of a year, a coalition of sign companies and local businesses showed up, helping to shape the proposed changes and sharing the impact.
The result was a meaningful win: electronic message centers, previously prohibited from being seen from a right-of-way, will now be allowed. And just as importantly, a proposed restriction that would have banned new internally illuminated freestanding signs was removed before it became law.
An Ounce of Prevention
The change that didn’t happen is central to understanding the value of ISA’s advocacy work. An earlier draft of Rockville’s ordinance included language that would have prohibited internally illuminated freestanding signs. ISA and local partners successfully pushed back, and the language was revised.
For sign companies, these behind-the-scenes wins can be easy to overlook. They do not always generate headlines. There is no ribbon-cutting when a bad provision is stopped. But preventing harmful rules from taking effect is often as important as securing new allowances.
“Often with sign code issues in communities across the country, they propose something that is bad for our industry and bad for sign company customers,” said David Hickey, ISA’s VP of advocacy. “Getting that stopped is a key part of what we do.”
Engaging Early…and Often
The Rockville process also underscores why early engagement matters. ISA was alerted to the zoning rewrite in early June 2025 by a local sign company whose staff had ties to ISA programs, including a former SRF scholar and former ISA Elite participants. That early notice gave ISA time to engage before the ordinance was final. Hickey said ISA quickly met with Rockville Planning Department staff, provided information and later responded when the first draft included problematic sign provisions.
From there, the work expanded. ISA drafted comments, joined the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, explained how the proposed code would hurt local businesses and helped encourage the Chamber to submit comments to support freestanding illuminated signs and electronic message centers visible from the roadway. Kenny Peskin, ISA’s director of industry programs, attended multiple in-person meetings in Rockville, and ISA helped bring end users into the conversation.
The End-User Difference
That mattered because sign code advocacy is most effective when it is not framed only as a sign industry issue. Local officials may assume sign companies simply want to sell more or larger signs. But when chambers of commerce, retailers, small business owners, shopping centers or car dealers explain how sign restrictions affect visibility, customer access and cost of doing business, the conversation changes.
Tying the issue to local business interests “is massively important because it magnifies the scale, and it also increases the depth of understanding as to what the impact of a potential change is,” Peskin said. He pointed specifically to the cost and disruption that would have resulted if existing internally illuminated freestanding signs had been required to come down after a period of noncompliance.
Hickey echoed that point, noting that local officials are often more likely to listen to “their end user constituents,” including small business owners who pay taxes, employ residents and carry political weight in the community.
Bringing the Expertise
Rockville also presented a familiar challenge: signs were embedded in a much broader zoning overhaul. Rockville had not updated its zoning ordinance in 17 years, and signs were a small portion of a larger effort to rethink zoning districts, land use and development patterns. That meant sign provisions could be overlooked — but it also created an opening. Decision-makers had not necessarily formed firm opinions on the sign issues, making them more receptive to specific, practical solutions.
ISA’s technical expertise proved especially important. When a full ordinance is rewritten as it was in Rockville, traditional redlines or side-by-side comparisons may not be available. ISA’s advocacy team, with decades of collective experience in sign codes, can spot missing sections, unusual language or seemingly innocuous provisions.
The Bigger PIcture
The Rockville win did not come from one letter or one three-minute public comment. It came from months of sustained effort, repeated engagement, specific code language recommendations, stakeholder involvement and a willingness to stay in the process until the end.
“Every time we facilitate a success like this in a community, it benefits the entire sign industry as a whole,” Hickey said.
Rockville may be one city, but the lesson is national: when ISA, local sign companies and business stakeholders work together early and persistently, harmful proposals can be stopped — and better outcomes can become possible.
Is your community planning sign code changes? Email ISA’s advocacy team.