Appleton, WI Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Because Sec. 23-505(c) prohibits off-premises signs, billboards in the classic sense, everywhere in Appleton, the sign types that actually reach billboard scale are on-premises ground signs, including the oversized freeway-oriented signs Sec. 23-529(b) allows up to 60 feet high and 200 square feet per face along Interstate 41 and State Highway 441. Section 23-528 sets the lighting rule that governs all of them: a sign may be internally lighted or may have external illumination mounted on the sign, building, or ground, with no distinction drawn by sign size or zoning district.

The limit is functional rather than numeric: no external light source may be positioned so it interferes with or is seen by vehicular traffic or adjacent residential uses. That single standard puts the burden on the sign owner to aim floodlights and spotlights so they illuminate only the sign face, not oncoming drivers or a neighboring house. Electronic message boards get an added, more specific safeguard on top of Sec. 23-528: Sec. 23-530(d) requires automatic light sensors that dim the display's brightness and ties compliance to the citywide light-trespass standard in Sec. 23-53(g). Flashing, animated, or beacon-style lighting on any sign remains separately barred by Sec. 23-505(a)-(b) regardless of how the fixture is aimed.