Bergenfield, NJ Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Billboards themselves are banned outright in Bergenfield under § 186-48M, so no billboard can be illuminated at all. But the same chapter's general illumination standard at § 186-48C(5) governs lighting on every other sign type the Borough does permit, including wall signs, freestanding signs, projecting signs, and awning signs. That subsection allows internal or external illumination only where the chapter specifically indicates a sign category may be lit, and then imposes firm limits: illumination can never flash, rotate, or run at intermittent intervals, and every illuminated sign must be shielded so its light does not create glare for neighboring properties or passing drivers.

The subsection also bans illumination of intermittent or varying intensity and, most notably, prohibits any illumination color other than white, closing off colored floodlighting or accent lighting on commercial signage. The chapter carves out one narrow exception: 'action signs' showing time and temperature changes are allowed to animate despite the general no-animation rule. Separately, § 186-48C(2) bars illuminated signs using red, green, or amber, whether by direct lighting or reflective paint, within 60 feet of any intersection with a traffic signal, a rule aimed at preventing driver confusion with traffic-control colors.