Glynn County, GA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Section 809(d)(1)(c) of the Glynn County Zoning Ordinance sets the illumination standard for outdoor advertising signs, requiring any sign with external illumination to be activated by a time clock or photo-electric cell rather than left on a manual switch, and flatly banning any other lighting method, including neon, running lights or animation, on billboards. The county backstops that rule with a driver-safety check: if the Glynn County Police Department advises Code Enforcement that a sign's illumination or effect is causing glare, impairing a driver's vision, or otherwise interfering with safe vehicle operation, Code Enforcement must notify the sign's owner, who then has no more than 48 hours to eliminate the cause or reduce the effect to a level Code Enforcement finds acceptable.

A parallel rule for changeable-message billboards in § 809(d)(1)(d) requires those signs to use LED or similar technology with an automatic dimmer and to hold each message fixed for at least 15 seconds, with any transition completing within two seconds, so the display cannot flare or shift brightness abruptly. Together the two provisions mean a billboard's light source is regulated as closely as its size: the county controls not just how bright a sign gets but how it turns on, how it changes, and how fast an owner has to fix a lighting complaint from the police.