Rowan County, NC Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Sec. 21-182 governs lighting on every sign regulated by Article VIII of the zoning chapter, prohibiting lighting that causes glare onto adjacent residentially developed property or that obstructs views, imitates traffic lights, or otherwise confuses or endangers motorists. The rule applies chapter-wide, so it reaches billboards as well as on-premises business signs, though Sec. 21-181 exempts on-premises signs of any size and off-premises signs of 100 square feet or smaller from the article's regulations unless a section states otherwise. Billboards, defined by the code as off-premises signs, are separately restricted by Sec.

21-183 to the CBI and IND zoning districts, and only as a special use requiring board of commissioners approval under the general special-use evaluation criteria plus the sign-specific criteria in Sec. 21-60(13). Combined, the two sections mean a billboard erected in an allowed district still cannot spill glare onto a neighboring residential lot or use lighting effects, such as chasing bulbs mimicking a traffic light, that could confuse a driver on the adjacent road. Planning & Development reviews sign permit applications for compliance with Sec.

21-182 before issuance, and an existing sign found to violate the lighting standard is treated as a zoning violation subject to the enforcement process in Sec. 21-13.