Bannock County, ID Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Bannock County Code § 17.52.470(L) and (M) set the lighting rules for both standard and digital billboards. Under 17.52.470(L)(4)(b), non-digital billboards may only be indirectly illuminated: neon tubing and back-lighting panels are not permitted, and any billboard face that flashes, blinks, or otherwise shows intermittent or moving light is prohibited outright, even though reflective sign faces and multiple-faced signs may still carry illumination. Digital, changeable-message billboard faces face an added numeric cap under 17.52.470(M)(4): any LED or similar face must include a light sensor that automatically dims as ambient light falls, and the sign can never add more than 0.3 footcandles of nighttime illumination measured perpendicular to the face, at a distance the county ties to the sign's square footage (100 feet for faces up to 100 square feet, 150 feet for 101-350 square feet, 250 feet for 351-672 square feet, or 250 feet from the nearest residence under the chapter's alternate option).

Every billboard, lit or not, must also meet the underlying siting rules in 17.52.470(N): it is confined to Agricultural, Recreation, Industrial and Light Industrial districts and must sit at least 250 feet from a residential district. Lighting fixtures and their wiring are also subject to the structural and electrical review required for all billboards under 17.52.470(G), which calls for stamped engineering plans before a sign permit issues.