Plano, TX Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Plano regulates billboard and off-site advertising lighting on two fronts: fixture placement and operating hours. Sec. 6-474(b) requires that outdoor advertising, displays, and signs "not exclusively illuminated internally" may "only utilize illuminating devices mounted on the top and pointing downward on the advertising display structure," and those installations must otherwise comply with the rest of Article XI. Sec. 6-474(h) then sets operating hours for "Class I lighting," the category that expressly includes "advertising displays, billboards, and other signs" under the Sec. 6-466 definition. must be fully shielded with downward-pointed fixtures to avoid violating the hours limit.

Internally lit signs get a separate carve-out: Sec. 6-474(g) exempts "Outdoor advertising signs constructed of translucent materials and wholly illuminated from within" from the shielding requirement altogether, since their light source doesn't project outward like an external floodlight. The illumination ceiling in Sec. 6-474(j) still applies on the property generally, capping initial computed or measured illuminance at twenty-five footcandles at any point. As with the rest of Article XI, a billboard lighting violation is enforced by the city manager or designee under Sec. 6-476 and punishable by a fine up to $2,000 for a first offense under Sec. 6-477(a), with escalating minimums for repeat convictions.