Highlands County, FL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- General rule
- Permitted signs may be illuminated
- Neon signs
- Banned in districts set by the zoning schedule
- Strip lighting cap (R-3/B-1/B-2)
- Tubing ≤15mm, transformer ≤30 milliamperes
- Roof-line neon
- Barred above any building's roof, countywide
- Digital brightness cap
- 0.3 foot-candles, LPRP district only
Summary
Unincorporated Highlands County allows illumination on any permitted sign, including the off-site signs and billboards permitted under Article 7, but bans neon-type signs in the districts the zoning schedule identifies. Detailed brightness and dimming limits apply only within the Lake Placid Regional Plan Overlay District's digital-sign rules.
All permitted signs may be illuminated. Neon-type signs are prohibited in certain districts as shown in the schedule of district regulations set out in this Code.
Full Breakdown
Highlands County Code § 12.07.107 sets the county's baseline rule for lighting a sign: 'All permitted signs may be illuminated,' subject to a separate ban on neon-type signs 'in certain districts as shown in the schedule of district regulations set out in this Code.' Because the rule applies to any 'permitted sign,' it reaches the off-site signs, commonly called billboards, that Article 7 allows in the AU, B-2, B-3, B-4, I-1 and I-2 districts under §§ 12.07.101 and 12.07.102, meaning a billboard erected in one of those districts may be lit so long as it does not fall into the district's neon prohibition.
The county regulates a related lighting technique separately under § 12.07.106, which treats strip lighting used to outline a structure as a sign for regulatory purposes: in the R-3, B-1 and B-2 districts, strip lighting is capped at a footage equal to the building's street frontage, with tubing no larger than 15 millimeters and transformers no more than 30 milliamperes, while B-3, B-4, I-1 and I-2 districts drop the tubing and transformer caps but limit total footage to twice the street frontage; neon or streamer strip lighting is barred above any building's roof line countywide.
The county's only numeric brightness and dimming standards for a lit sign, a 0.3 foot-candle cap above ambient light and mandatory auto-dimming, apply solely to on-premise digital changeable-copy signs inside the Lake Placid Regional Plan Overlay District under § 12.05.501(3)(h)(i), not to off-site billboards elsewhere in the county.
Violations & Fines
An illuminated sign that violates the district-specific neon prohibition under § 12.07.107, or strip lighting exceeding the footage, tubing or transformer limits of § 12.07.106, is a Land Development Regulations violation. Development Services code enforcement issues a correction notice, and an unresolved violation can be referred to the special magistrate, who may order the lighting removed or altered and fine the responsible party up to $500 per violation under § 2-382, with continuing illumination fined daily.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a billboard in unincorporated Highlands County be lit up at night?
Are there brightness limits on billboard lighting outside Lake Placid?
Is outlining a sign or building with strip lighting regulated?
What happens if illuminated signage doesn't meet the code?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Highlands County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Highlands County to another location·View the Florida outdoor lighting overview
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