Lafayette Parish, LA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing rule
- Brightness adjusts to ambient light levels
- Applies to
- City of Lafayette and unincorporated parish
- Minimum message hold
- 8 seconds per message
- Malfunction requirement
- Freeze or shut down display
- New billboards
- Prohibited; only conversions of existing signs
Summary
Lafayette City-Parish requires digital billboard displays to automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes, applying to converted billboard faces in both the City of Lafayette and unincorporated parish.
5.Message Display Intervals. Each message appearing on a digital billboard shall remain fixed for at least eight seconds, and message changes shall be instantaneous and not contain such visual effects as fading, dissolves, flashing, etc. 6.Illumination. Display brightness shall be adjusted as ambient light levels change. 7.Malfunction display lock. Digital billboards shall contain a default design that will freeze the display in one position if a malfunction occurs, or in the alternative, shut the digital billboard down.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 65).
Full Breakdown
Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government Code Sec. 89-90 bans new off-premises advertising signs outright, but a legally existing billboard face may convert to a digital display under strict conditions in Sec. 89-90(i)(3)d. One mandatory condition governs lighting: display brightness must be adjusted as ambient light levels change, so the sign dims at night and brightens by day rather than running at a fixed intensity. Digital conversions also require an eight-second minimum message hold and a malfunction failsafe that freezes or shuts down the display. These rules apply in both the City of Lafayette and unincorporated Lafayette Parish, not Broussard, Carencro, Duson, Scott, Youngsville or Milton.
Violations & Fines
Digital billboard conversions without ambient-light brightness adjustment, the required removal ratio, or LCG permit approval violate Sec. 89-90(i)(3)d; DPD can order removal and companies must submit a billboard inventory with each permit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a new billboard be built in Lafayette Parish?
Does the digital billboard need to dim at night?
Does this rule apply outside the City of Lafayette?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lafayette Parish
Compare Lafayette Parish to another location·View the Louisiana outdoor lighting overview
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