Las Cruces, NM Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Chapter 39 of the Las Cruces Land Development Code is the city's outdoor lighting ordinance, and Sec. 39-13 carries its rules for illuminated signs and billboards. Internally illuminated signs and billboards must have a solid, light-blocking top, typically metal or an equivalent opaque material, so that light is not emitted straight up into the sky, and the light output measured at the face of the sign cannot exceed 150 nits. Externally illuminated billboards and signs must have their luminaires mounted at the top and aimed downward, shielded so the lamp and its reflective surfaces are not visible off-site and so the beam falls only onto the sign face; the luminance on that face is likewise capped at 150 nits, unless the sign uses LED technology, in which case luminaires may be mounted top or bottom.

Anyone installing such lighting must supply the city photometric evidence proving compliance within ten business days of installation. Electronic variable message display signs and billboards, the digital reader-board type, must run automatic dimming controls and cannot exceed 350 nits at night or 7,500 nits during daylight hours. and from the citywide total-property lumen cap, since Sec. 39-13(b) treats their lumens as an allowance on top of a property's base limit. A violator faces a petty misdemeanor charge under Sec. 39-19, and unresolved noncompliance is also enforceable as a nuisance under Sec.

18-1 through 18-9. Variance requests for a nonconforming lighting design go to the Planning and Zoning Commission under the procedure in Sec. 38-10, with appeal to the City Council.