Garland, TX Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

73(G) governs digital billboard display standards. Every digital billboard must be equipped with both a dimmer control and a photocell that automatically adjusts the display's intensity to natural ambient light conditions, and displays must conform to the sign-illumination restrictions elsewhere in the article. A digital billboard may not increase the light level on a lot in a residential district above the ambient conditions that existed without the display, measured in footcandles at the point closest to the sign that is five feet inside the residential lot and five feet above the ground.

Before the city issues a digital billboard permit, the applicant must submit an ambient light survey taken from adjacent residential properties, plus written certification from the sign manufacturer that the light intensity has been factory-programmed to comply with the maximum brightness and dimming standards, and that the intensity is locked against end-user manipulation by password-protected software or another method the Building Official accepts. Message-change rules layer onto the lighting controls: each message must display for at least eight seconds, changes must complete within two seconds, the entire face must change simultaneously, and no flashing, dimming, or brightening is allowed except during an authorized message change. Operators must respond to a malfunction within one hour and fix it within 12 hours, freezing the display in the meantime.