Colonie, NY Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Town Code § 190-84(B)(1) sets the lighting standard for every billboard in Colonie: light sources must be designed, shielded, arranged, and installed to confine illumination to the billboard's own face and keep it away from adjoining properties, and the fixtures themselves cannot be visible from any street or neighboring parcel. That standard applies whether the billboard is a traditional lit panel or a digital board; the code allows digital displays but does not relax the shielding requirement, it only adds a minimum eight-second hold time between messages.

A billboard's lighting is also folded into the article's maintenance duty under § 190-84(B)(7), which requires the sign and its structure, including its lighting, to be kept in repair. The Director of the Building Department enforces both standards together: § 190-84(E)(3)(f) lets the Director revoke a billboard permit for failing to maintain the structure free from hazards such as faulty wiring or loose fastenings, after 14 days' written notice to the owner of record if the hazard is not corrected. Because the illumination rule sits inside the general regulations subsection rather than the location subsection, it applies Town-wide to every billboard the Town permits, not only those in the Industrial District where new billboards must be sited under § 190-84(C)(1).

A billboard found to be a source of immediate peril to persons or property, which would include a dangerous lighting or wiring defect, can be removed summarily and without notice under § 190-84(E)(4)(c).