Huntsville, AL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Section 72.8.7 of the Zoning Ordinance (Code Appendix A) governs illumination on any sign or outside lighting device, including beacons and spotlights: the light must be of constant intensity, with flashing, blinking, intermittent, rotating or moving light banned outright (electronic display signs get a separate carve-out under Section 72.8.21, which is not this rule). The same section forbids aiming an illuminated sign or fixture so that focused light beams onto a public street, highway, sidewalk, or adjacent premises in a way that causes glare or reflection rising to a traffic hazard or nuisance.

Because Huntsville treats any sign, illuminated or not, as a permitted structure under Article 72, an applicant for a sign permit must submit drawings showing the proposed lighting of the sign under Section 72.11.2(2)(d) before the zoning administrator will issue the permit; the minimum permit fee is $25.00, rising with installed cost over $1,000. Installed signs remain subject to annual inspection under Section 72.12, and Section 72.13 lets the zoning administrator order repair, maintenance, or removal of any sign found hazardous, including from lighting that has fallen into disrepair, with appeal running to the Board of Zoning Adjustment and then circuit court.

Ground signs generally cap at 35 feet in height under Section 72.8.12, a limit that applies equally to a lit billboard-style structure absent a more specific district standard.