Granville County, NC Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Granville County's Land Development Code does not carry a billboard-specific lighting chapter; instead, Sec. 32-494's general standards applying to all signs set the illumination rule that reaches outdoor advertising signs along with every other sign type in the county's permitted-sign table. Under the sign table at Sec. 32-497, an outdoor advertising sign (billboard) is a minor special use (MinS) in the AR-80, AR-40, HB, NB and I-1/I-2 districts, requiring board of adjustment approval, and prohibited outright in R-25 and MHPD districts. Once approved, a billboard's lighting must meet Sec.

32-494(g): the light source must be constant in intensity and color rather than fluctuating, and must be shaded, shielded or directed so it does not throw glare onto surrounding properties or public streets. The same subsection separately bars any illuminated sign, billboard included, from creating a traffic hazard through direct or reflected light aimed at drivers, and requires the electric supply for any illuminated sign to run through a ground fault interrupter for safety. Because Article VII's stated purpose in Sec. 32-491 is to regulate the number, size, type, use, purpose and illumination of signs, Development Services applies this illumination standard at the permitting stage for a new billboard and can act on it later if a sign's lighting is modified or degrades into a hazard.

Chapter 32's general environmental performance standard on glare, Sec. 32-386, which requires cutoff fixtures and caps footcandles at adjoining property lines, applies independently to any floodlighting used to illuminate a billboard face from the ground.