Sign Regulations in Virginia Beach, VA (2026)
5 verified sign regulations for Virginia Beach, Virginia, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Political Signs
Virginia Beach treats political signs as content-neutral temporary signs, capped at 16 or 32 square feet total per lot depending on the zoning district.
Political Sign Size Limits in Virginia Beach
Light RestrictionsVirginia Beach City Zoning Ordinance § 211(b)(5)
Temporary signs other than those allowed by the provisions of subdivisions (1) through (4), subject to the following provisions: a. Within a Preservation, Agricultural, Residential, Apartment, or Historic and Cultural District, or a noncommercial area of a PD-H1 or PD-H2 Planned Development District, a total of sixteen (16) square feet of temporary signage shall be allowed on a lot. Within all ...
Holiday Displays
Virginia Beach's outdoor lighting ordinance exempts temporary seasonal lighting outright, so holiday displays skip the brightness caps, fixture-shielding, and pole-height limits other exterior lighting must meet, as long as the display doesn't become a safety hazard.
Virginia Beach Exempts Holiday Lights From Lighting Rules
Few RestrictionsVirginia Beach City Zoning Ordinance § 252(b)(8)
The following are exempt from the provisions of this section so long as they are not deemed to be a hazard to public health, safety and welfare: (1)Lighting for public art, monuments, and statuary, when directed toward the public art, monument, or statuary;(2)FAA-mandated lighting associated with a utility tower or airport;(3)Lights required for Air Navigation Safety by the FAA;(4)Lighting a...
Digital Billboards
Virginia Beach's zoning ordinance bans electronic display signs citywide, with narrow exceptions for gas station displays and City Council-approved major entertainment venue signage.
Digital Billboards Banned in Virginia Beach
Heavy RestrictionsVirginia Beach City Zoning Ordinance § 212(m)
Electronic display signs, except as expressly allowed by the city council in conjunction with major entertainment venues or as otherwise provided in this ordinance.(n)Any sign that emits sound, smoke, vapor, particles, or odors.(o)Any sign larger in any respect than allowed in the zoning district in which the sign is located. (Ord. No. 3442, 4-19-16; Ord. No. 3665, 6-15-21)
Window Signs
In Virginia Beach's Town Center core, window signs can't cover more than 10% of a storefront's total window area, and electronic displays or oscillating lights in windows are banned outright.
Window Sign Coverage Limit in Virginia Beach
Some RestrictionsVirginia Beach City Zoning Ordinance § 2210(a)(17)
Window signs shall not exceed, in the aggregate, ten (10) per cent of the total area of the windows in which they are located; provided, however, that an establishment with no wall signs may apply its wall sign allowance to any window... Window signs shall not consist of or contain oscillating lights, electronic displays, televisions, or computer monitors.
Freeway-Facing Signs
Billboards and other outdoor advertising signs must sit at least 500 feet from any interstate or expressway interchange and 660 feet back from the interstate or expressway right-of-way line under Virginia Beach's zoning ordinance.
Freeway-Facing Billboard Setbacks in Virginia Beach
Some RestrictionsVirginia Beach City Zoning Ordinance § 216(b)
No outdoor advertising sign shall be located within five hundred (500) feet of an interchange, or intersection at grade, on any highway, interstate or city council designated expressway (measured along the highway, interstate or expressway to the nearest point of the beginning or ending of pavement widening at the exit from or entrance to the main traveled way). On all other streets, no billboa...