Birmingham, AL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Article VI, Section 9's general requirements for all signs set the baseline lighting standard that applies to billboards along with every other illuminated sign in Birmingham: no illuminated or highly reflective sign, including its structure, can be erected or maintained unless effectively shielded to prevent beams or rays of light from being directed at any portion of the street or roadway, or from shining on or into residential buildings or otherwise adversely affecting surrounding premises, and the light cannot adversely affect the safe operation of motor vehicles by reason of intensity or brilliance that causes glare or impairs a driver's vision.

This is a shielding and glare rule, distinct from the separate ban on intermittent (flashing) lighting that applies specifically to off-premises billboards under a different subsection. A billboard operator can use direct or indirect illumination on a sign face, but the fixture has to be positioned and shielded so the light source itself doesn't spill onto the roadway or a neighboring residence, and its brightness can't be enough to impair a driver's vision. The ordinance's on-premises sign rules add a parallel rule: it is unlawful to erect any attraction or sign which contains a beacon of any type and/or contains a spotlight providing direct illumination to the public.

Between these two provisions, the city bans beacon and spotlight illumination outright and conditions every other lit sign, on a billboard or a business front, on effective glare shielding, enforced by the Department of Planning, Engineering and Permits.