James City County, VA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Off-premise billboards
- Prohibited outright (§ 24-75(1))
- Traffic-signal-mimicking lights
- Banned within 300 ft (§ 24-75(4))
- Internally lit signs near corridors
- Banned within 150 ft (§ 24-75(5))
- Enforcing agency
- Community Development / zoning administrator
- Notice before removal
- 5 days written (§ 24-79)
Summary
James City County bans off-premise billboards outright under the Zoning Ordinance's prohibited-signs list, § 24-75(1). Even a lawfully permitted on-premise sign cannot use colored lighting that could be mistaken for a traffic signal within 300 feet, or be internally illuminated within 150 feet of a Community Character Corridor right-of-way. Community Development enforces both bars.
The following signs are specifically prohibited: (1)Off-premise signs or off-premise billboards, unless specifically exempted by section 24-74. ... (4)Signs so located and so illuminated as to provide a background of colored lights blending with traffic signal lights that might reasonably confuse a motorist when viewed from a normal approach position of a vehicle at a distance of up to 300 feet. (5)Internally illuminated signs which are visible from and located within 150 feet of the existing or proposed rights-of-way of primary and secondary roads within a community character area or community character corridor as identified on the James City County Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 24, § 24-75 lists signs specifically prohibited countywide, and the very first item bars off-premise signs and off-premise billboards, unless a sign is specifically exempted by § 24-74's short list of government and construction-related postings. That flat ban means a billboard advertising a business or product located somewhere else cannot be erected in James City County outside the exemptions. § 24-75(5) adds a corridor-specific rule: internally illuminated signs are prohibited when they sit within 150 feet of the right-of-way of a primary or secondary road inside a county-designated Community Character Area or Community Character Corridor, as mapped on the county's Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map.
Outside those corridors, illuminated signs are still governed by the general sign-lighting standards in §§ 24-70 and 24-71, which require external illumination to avoid visible bulbs, lenses or globes and prohibit any glare onto adjacent property or a right-of-way.
Violations & Fines
Sign violations, including an unlawful off-premise billboard or a sign with prohibited colored or internal lighting, are enforced under § 24-79. The administrator or the administrator's designee must give the property owner five days' written notice before any criminal or civil enforcement. If the sign is portable or affixed to another object, it must come down immediately; otherwise, if the owner takes no action, the county can remove it at the owner's or tenant's expense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put up a billboard advertising a business at another location in James City County?
Can a sign have colored or flashing lights?
Are illuminated signs allowed near the county's scenic corridors?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in James City County
Compare James City County to another location·View the Virginia outdoor lighting overview
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