Blue Springs, MO Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Standard billboard lighting ban
- No exposed light, digital, or limited digital
- Digital route
- Only via separate Digital Billboards approval
- Digital spacing (I-70)
- 2,640 ft between digital billboards
- Buffer from other digital signs
- 250 ft minimum
- Sign face rule
- Single- or double-faced, up to 90-degree angle
- Audio
- Speakers prohibited on billboards
Summary
In the City of Blue Springs, Missouri, a standard billboard along I-70 cannot use exposed light, digital, or limited digital illumination under City Code Section 501.090(B)(5)(b); a sign can only go digital by qualifying separately as a Digital Billboard under Section 501.090(C), with its own spacing and letter-height standards.
5. Design Standards. a. Sign Structure. Billboards shall be subject to all applicable standards of a structure for the purposes and intents of Chapter 400 (Unified Development Code). b. Illumination. Exposed light, digital, and limited digital signs shall be prohibited. c. Sign Face. Shall only be a single- or double-faced sign. However, double-faced signs may utilize an angle between touching sign planes up to ninety degrees (90°), provided that no sign shall have more than one (1) sign face viewable from the same lane of traffic. d. Audio. Audio speakers are prohibited.
Full Breakdown
Section 501.090(B)(5) sets the design standards for conventional off-premise billboards along I-70, and subsection (b) draws a hard line on lighting: exposed light signs, digital signs, and limited digital signs are all prohibited on a standard billboard. That leaves only internally lit, back-lit, or externally lit faces available to a conventional billboard, subject to the same subsection's separate limits on sign face configuration (single- or double-faced, up to a 90-degree angle between faces) and its ban on audio speakers. A sign owner who wants illuminated digital content must instead qualify under the distinct Digital Billboards track in Section 501.090(C), which requires all of the standard billboard's location and dimensional standards plus a 2,640-foot spacing from other digital billboards on I-70, a 250-foot buffer from any other digital sign visible from the same stretch of highway, and minimum letter heights of 12 to 15 inches depending on the posted speed of the road the sign faces.
In effect, the City treats digital illumination on a freeway billboard as a separate, more tightly controlled use rather than an add-on feature of an ordinary billboard.
Violations & Fines
Installing exposed light, digital, or limited digital illumination on a billboard that has not been approved through the Digital Billboards process in Section 501.090(C) violates Section 501.090(B)(5)(b) and makes the sign a prohibited sign under Section 501.110. Community Development can order the illumination removed or the sign taken down, and the owner faces the Section 100.080 general penalty of up to $500 and 90 days in jail, with each day of the violation a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a regular billboard along I-70 add a digital screen?
Are exposed light bulbs allowed on Blue Springs billboards?
Can a billboard have a digital screen on both faces?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Blue Springs
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Billboard Lighting in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Jackson County handle billboard lighting.