Brookhaven, NY Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Chapter 57A, the Town's sign law, treats billboards as a disfavored sign category rather than a lighting-permit item. Section 57A-22, added in 2001, states the purpose is to eliminate 'certain kinds of commercial signage defined in this chapter as "billboards"' because of their negative visual impact on the Town's hamlets and roadways. Subsection B bars construction of any new billboard in every zoning district, residential, commercial or industrial alike. Subsection C required every billboard standing on the law's effective date, whether or not it held a certificate of occupancy, conforming use or zoning compliance, to be dismantled and removed by December 31, 2004.

Owners facing hardship could ask the Board of Zoning Appeals under Subsection D for an extension, but the law capped any extension at December 31, 2007; no billboard could legally remain past that date. Because billboards cannot exist in Brookhaven, the general sign-illumination standard in § 57A-13, requiring shielded light sources so no glare crosses the property line or disturbs passing motorists, and banning flashing or rotating lights except on time-and-temperature displays, never reaches a billboard face; it applies only to permitted on-premises and commercial signs still standing under the chapter.

A structure that survives past the amortization deadlines is treated as an illegal sign under § 57A-15 and is subject to removal by the Chief Building Inspector.