Confirm sign removal/abandonment obligations when a business vacates or a sign is discontinued

Steps

1. Check the local sign ordinance for an abandonment or discontinued-use provision defining when a sign must be removed or its face blanked (commonly tied to vacancy of the associated business or cessation of the advertised use for a defined period)
2. Confirm the required action: full structure removal, face/cabinet removal only, or blanking/covering the copy — ordinances differ on which is required and by when
3. Identify who is responsible for compliance (property owner, sign owner, or both) since some ordinances hold the property owner responsible even if a separate sign company or prior tenant owned the sign
4. Confirm whether a code-enforcement notice-and-cure process applies before the jurisdiction can order removal or impose penalties, and the timeline that process follows locally
5. For off-premise signs/billboards, separately confirm state DOT permit-lapse consequences (in addition to the local ordinance) since an abandoned billboard permit can be subject to separate state-level revocation