Macon County, IL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Interchange rule
- No flashing-light illumination, § 155.166(H)(8)(d)
- Residential-adjacent rule
- No flashing lights within 50 ft of R District
- Revolving beacons
- Banned outright near traffic/emergency signals
- Billboards covered
- § 155.184(B)(8)(i) folds billboards into the standard
- Enforcement
- Planning and Zoning Department
- Penalty
- Up to $500 per offense, weekly
Summary
Near the county's freeway interchange overlay districts in unincorporated Macon County, Macon County Code § 155.166(H)(8)(d) bars any outdoor-advertising sign from containing, including, or being illuminated by a flashing light or lights, one of several interchange-area sign restrictions that sit alongside the county's separate 50-foot flashing-light setback from residential districts under § 155.184(B)(8)(j).
(d) No sign should contain, include, or be illuminated by a flashing light or lights.
Full Breakdown
166(F)(10)). Subsection (d) states flatly that no sign should contain, include, or be illuminated by a flashing light or lights, a rule that applies to every sign placed in the interchange area, not merely to billboards, alongside companion bans on signs that resemble traffic-control devices, obstruct visibility at an intersection, or carry a distracting animated or moving part. 184(B)(8)(j) bars revolving beacons which resemble traffic control devices or emergency vehicle signs and prohibits signs employing exterior, brilliant, intermittent, rotating, or flashing lights within 50 feet of the boundary of any R District, a rule that folds billboards in because subsection (i) of the same list makes clear that a billboard, poster, flag, pennant, streamer, outdoor display or other advertising device must meet those same standards.
Together the two sections mean a lit billboard's lighting scheme is regulated twice over in the unincorporated county: once by location relative to a freeway interchange, and again by proximity to any residential district boundary, whichever restriction applies to the parcel in question.
Violations & Fines
A flashing, rotating, or otherwise non-constant illuminated sign placed in a freeway interchange area violates § 155.166(H)(8)(d), and the same lighting within 50 feet of an R District violates § 155.184(B)(8)(j); both are zoning violations under § 155.999, carrying a fine of up to $500 per offense with each week of continued noncompliance treated as a separate offense. The Planning and Zoning Department can order the lighting shut off or the sign removed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a billboard near a Macon County freeway interchange have flashing or LED lighting?
Is there a separate lighting rule for signs near homes, away from an interchange?
What is the penalty for an illegally lit billboard in Macon County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Macon County
Compare Macon County to another location·View the Illinois outdoor lighting overview
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