Lynnwood, WA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Lynnwood's general sign-illumination standard at Section 8.40.0800(C)(2) applies to every illuminated sign in the city: the light from any illuminated sign must be so shaded, shielded or directed that the light intensity or brightness will not be objectionable to surrounding properties. That rule reaches billboards because billboards are signs under Chapter 8.40's signage article, and it sits alongside the article's ban on flashing, blinking or sequentially lit signs unless the sign is an electronic changing-message display.

Billboards specifically face a much tighter freeze. Section 8.90.0960(C)(1) states plainly that erecting new billboards inside the city of Lynnwood's boundaries is prohibited, with no exceptions listed. An existing, legally established billboard can keep operating, but Section 8.90.0960(C)(2)(a) bars the owner from altering it in size, shape, orientation, height, advertising method, function, or relocating it, which locks in whatever lighting method the sign already used when it became nonconforming; switching a static billboard to an illuminated or electronic face would count as changing its advertising method or function. Ordinary repair to maintain a billboard's existing structural integrity and appearance is allowed, and the sign area alone can be replaced without a new sign permit, but a billboard damaged badly enough that repair costs exceed half its pre-damage value must be permanently removed and cannot be rebuilt anywhere else in the city. Any billboard that violates these terms must come down within 90 days of the city's notice, enforced under Chapter 1.40 Code Enforcement.