Montebello, CA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Brightness cap
- 0.3 footcandle above ambient light, day or night
- Motion/intensity changes
- Prohibited outright, §17.62.105(F)(6)
- Content-change interval
- Minimum 8 seconds, instantaneous, no transition effects
- Correction deadline
- 7 days of city's written demand
- Testing
- City-retained lighting engineer, at permittee's expense
Summary
In the City of Montebello, digital billboards are held to a strict brightness and motion standard rather than left to the sign owner's judgment. Section 17.62.105(F) of the Montebello Municipal Code requires automatic dimming so a display never exceeds 0.3 footcandle above ambient light, bars any illumination or message change that is in motion or changes intensity, and sets a minimum eight-second interval between content changes.
5.The interval between the change in digital content shall be a minimum of eight seconds and the images shall change instantaneously, without special transitional effects.6.No digital display sign may include any illumination or message change that is in motion or that changes intensity. ... 12.An off-premises digital display must utilize automatic dimming technology to adjust the brightness of the sign relative to ambient light so that at no time will the sign exceed a brightness level of 0.3 footcandle above the ambient light for both daytime and nighttime condition.
Full Breakdown
Montebello's off-premises digital display ordinance treats glare and visual distraction as safety issues, not just aesthetics, and Section 17.62.105(F) sets three separate controls to manage them. First, subsection (F)(12) requires every permitted display to use automatic dimming technology that adjusts brightness relative to ambient light so the sign never exceeds 0.3 footcandle above ambient light, day or night; the ordinance even sets out measurement distances tied to the sign's face size, for example a display measuring twelve feet by twenty-five feet is tested from one hundred fifty feet away.
Second, subsection (F)(6) flatly bars any illumination or message change that is in motion or that changes intensity, which rules out animation, flashing, strobing, or fade effects regardless of brightness. Third, subsection (F)(5) requires the interval between changes in digital content to be a minimum of eight seconds, with each change happening instantaneously and without any special transitional effect such as a dissolve or wipe. After a display goes into operation, the city may hire a lighting engineer, at the permittee's expense, to test brightness if staff believes the sign exceeds the ambient-light standard, and a permittee found in violation must complete corrective measures within seven days of the city's written demand.
Violations & Fines
A digital display that exceeds the 0.3-footcandle brightness cap, uses moving or intensity-changing illumination, or changes content faster than every eight seconds violates Section 17.62.105(F) and can be ordered corrected within seven days of a city demand following a lighting engineer's test, at the permittee's expense. The city can pursue the fines and remedies authorized under the Montebello Municipal Code and state and federal law for continued noncompliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How bright can a digital billboard be in Montebello?
Can a Montebello digital billboard flash or fade between messages?
Who checks whether a digital billboard in Montebello is too bright?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Montebello
California rules heatmap·Compare Montebello to another location·View the California outdoor lighting overview
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