Alameda, CA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Alameda regulates billboard and sign lighting inside Article I of Chapter VI, the article covering all advertising structures in the City. Sec. c lets lights used to illuminate an advertising structure, as long as the fixture itself isn't classified as an electric sign, extend over the street up to four feet beyond the property line, provided they are installed with a vertical clearance of at least ten feet above the sidewalk, protecting pedestrian and vehicle clearance on Alameda's narrow commercial streets. Before any lighted structure goes up, Sec.

00 for every additional $500 above $20,000. If the structure is wired for electricity, Sec. 50, and the wiring must meet Section 5-16 electrical standards and bear an Underwriters' Laboratories inspection label unless waived for good cause. Sec. h sets a brightness floor for electric signs generally, which reaches illuminated billboard faces using an internal illuminant: at least twelve watts of incandescent lamp wattage, or nine linear inches of luminous tubing, per square foot of exposed sign face, so every letter and figure reads clearly outlined at night.