Blaine, MN Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Blaine City Code Sec. 133-8(f) sets design requirements for dynamic, electronic message billboards, and paragraph (2) of that subsection specifically addresses lighting: it requires that lighting be set at the minimum level necessary to provide clear viewing from the right-of-way, and that the fixtures be shielded from side or top view to minimize glare. That means the sign's brightness cannot simply be maximized for visibility; it must be tuned down to whatever level actually lets a passing driver read the message, and the light source itself must be screened so someone approaching from the side or looking down from above is not exposed to direct glare.

This lighting standard applies on top of the other Sec. 133-8(f) requirements for electronic billboards, including a minimum eight-second display duration per message, a ban on animated, moving, flashing, scrolling, or crawling content, and a requirement that the sign be part of the state's public safety alert system. Billboards themselves, including their lighting, are confined under Sec. 133-8(a) and (b) to Light Industrial, Heavy Industrial, PBD, B-2 and B-3 zoned property adjoining Interstate 35W and U.S. Highway 10, and any billboard requires a sign permit under Sec.

133-10 before installation, giving the Community Development Department a chance to review the proposed lighting design against this glare standard before the sign goes up.