Meriden, CT Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Meriden regulates billboard lighting through the digital billboard brightness standard in Section 213-56E(2)(f)[3]. A digital billboard cannot operate at more than 0.3 footcandle above ambient light, measured at set distances that scale with the sign: a 242-square-foot sign is measured at 100 feet, a 378-square-foot sign at 150 feet, and the maximum 672-square-foot sign at 200 feet. The brightness reading itself must be taken with a light meter positioned at a ninety-degree angle to the face of the billboard, which keeps the measurement consistent regardless of the viewing angle from the roadway.

This brightness cap sits alongside the chapter's broader lighting standards for illuminated signs generally: constant illumination on ground and wall signs must concentrate on the sign face itself so as to prevent direct glare onto the street or adjacent property, and electrically illuminated signs must meet National Electrical Code wiring standards. For malfunctions specifically, Section 213-56E(2)(f)[4] requires every digital billboard to be designed and equipped to freeze its display in place if it malfunctions, to carry a means of immediately shutting the display down, and the owner must turn the display off immediately when the City orders it.

Because excess billboard brightness is treated as a sign standards violation rather than a separate lighting offense, it is enforced the same way as any other sign violation in Chapter 213, through a Zoning Enforcement Officer citation process rather than a nuisance complaint.