Lacey, WA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Section 16.75.050(C)(4) of the Lacey Municipal Code lists billboards among the prohibited signs in the City of Lacey, so the lighting question applies to the signs the city does permit. The illumination standard for all of them is § 16.75.060(C). Light must be shaded, shielded, directed or reduced to avoid undue brightness, glare or reflection on private or public property and to avoid unreasonably distracting pedestrians or motorists. The code defines undue brightness as illumination in excess of what is reasonably necessary to make the sign reasonably visible to the average person on an adjacent street. Illumination must be white or yellow and cannot blink, fluctuate or move, and light rays can shine only on the sign or on property within the premises.

The display restrictions in § 16.75.050(B)(2) add that signs with intermittent, flashing, rotating, blinking or strobe illumination visible beyond the lot or from any public right-of-way are prohibited, as is any sign with an exposed light source, except for neon incorporated into the design of the sign.

Digital elements inside a freestanding sign carry the only numeric lighting limits, found in § 16.75.080(A)(7)(d). The sign must integrate automatic dimming that adjusts to ambient light at all times of the day and night. Daytime, from sunrise to sunset as calculated for Lacey, WA, the cap is five thousand maximum nits. Nighttime, from sunset to sunrise, the cap is one hundred fifty maximum nits. Light trespass is limited to one-tenth foot-candle at the property line of any park or residential property.

In residential districts, § 16.75.090(A) prohibits internally lit signs, and § 16.75.090(B) allows a home occupation sign to be indirectly illuminated but not internally illuminated.