Salt Lake County, UT Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Lighting source
- must not be directly visible
- Internal illumination/electronic display
- freeway-adjacent billboards only
- Copy change limit
- 1 per 24 hours
- Tri-vision faces
- external illumination only
- Governing section
- Salt Lake County Code §19.82.185.H
Summary
Billboard lighting in unincorporated Salt Lake County is confined to the sign face itself: Code §19.82.185.H bars any lighting source that is directly visible to passersby. Internally lit displays and electronic message centers go further still, they are permitted only on billboards adjacent to the interstate freeway system, and even there the copy can change no more than once every 24 hours.
Lighting. Lighting shall be confined to the sign face, and the lighting source shall not be directly visible.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 49).
Full Breakdown
D). Subsection I then layers on stricter limits for any billboard that wants internal illumination, electronic display or a true electronic message center: those technologies are allowed only when the sign is adjacent to the interstate freeway system, and the county caps the copy face at one change per twenty-four-hour period even there. Tri-vision (mechanical slat) faces are allowed countywide, but if illuminated at all they must be lit externally, not internally. The design standard also requires the back of the sign and its support structure to be painted a dark color, a rule aimed at reducing daytime glare and visual clutter as much as nighttime brightness.
Because this rule sits inside the unincorporated county's own sign chapter, it applies to billboards in the county's remaining unincorporated pockets and townships, Magna, Kearns, White City, Emigration Canyon and similar areas, and not to any billboard standing inside Salt Lake City, Sandy, Murray, West Valley City or the valley's other incorporated cities, which each administer separate lighting standards.
Violations & Fines
A billboard with a directly visible light source, or an electronic display outside the freeway-adjacent exception, is a Title 19 zoning violation. The development services director issues a written notice and 28-day warning period; an uncorrected violation draws a second notice starting per-day civil fines, and the underlying violation is separately chargeable as a Class C misdemeanor under §19.94.040(A).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a billboard in Salt Lake County be internally lit?
What does 'lighting confined to the sign face' mean?
Do these lighting limits apply to signs inside Salt Lake City?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Salt Lake County
Compare Salt Lake County to another location·View the Utah outdoor lighting overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.