La Habra, CA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

The Community and Economic Development Department administers Chapter 18.23, which regulates every sign visible from the public right-of-way in the City of La Habra. Section 18.23.030 sets out Table 18.23.030.A, the Sign Matrix, using a legend of P (permitted), CUP (conditional use permit), T (temporary) and B (banner permit); every entry for 'Billboard,' 'Digital Display' and 'Off-site or off-premises' reads a dash, meaning not permitted, in all five zoning columns. Because the use itself is barred citywide, the general illumination rules in Section 18.23.060, which require external light sources to avoid casting stray light, ban blinking or flashing sign lighting, and require illuminated signs near residential zones to shut off within two hours of business closing, never come into play for a billboard: there is no lawful billboard to illuminate in the first place.

Any structure erected in defiance of the matrix is treated as an illegal sign under Section 18.23.100. The property owner or tenant has thirty calendar days after notice of violation to remove it; if they do not, the city can initiate nuisance abatement proceedings under Chapter 8.16, and the cost of removal is charged back to the property owner. A billboard that predates the current sign ordinance could only survive as a legal nonconforming sign under Section 18.23.110, but it can never be expanded, structurally altered to extend its useful life, or reestablished once its use has been discontinued for sixty days, so an old billboard is a dead end, not a lighting opportunity.