Dothan, AL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Dothan City Code § 114-222 sets illumination standards for every sign allowed to be lit under chapter 114. Subsection (c) requires that brightness be controlled automatically to cut light levels at night or in cloudy conditions and forbids brightness beyond what is necessary for clear visibility or that could impair a driver or interfere with a traffic control device. For digital billboards and EMC signs specifically, subsection (c)(1) requires automatic dimming technology keyed to ambient light, capping brightness at three-tenths of a footcandle above ambient as read on a lux meter.

Ambient light is measured with the sign blacked out between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise per National Weather Service times, and the measuring distance is the square root of the sign area times 100 (a 12-square-foot sign is measured from 34.6 feet). Subsection (c)(2) offers an alternative fixed-nit standard: no more than 5,000 nits during daylight and no more than 500 nits between sunset and sunrise. Section 114-221(7) separately requires that any sign be immediately turned off, disconnected or disabled if its brightness or display-timing controls fail in a way that endangers the traveling public.

Digital signs already operating before October 1, 2013 were given 30 days under section 114-223(h) to retrofit for compliance, dim to six percent of maximum brightness between dusk and dawn, or shut off during those hours if adding automatic dimming was not possible. These standards apply in every zoning district, since EMC and digital billboard technology is permitted citywide under section 114-221(1), not limited to commercial corridors.