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

Surry County Code § 154.016-10(A)(3) folds electronic-messaging billboard lighting controls into the special use permitting process the Board of Adjustment runs for all billboards. An application for an electronic-messaging billboard must include the proposed brightness settings, the message change time interval rate, and any adjustment ranges for brightness and timing, along with the standard dimensional information every billboard application needs. The Board of Adjustment can deny the electronic sign outright based on its required findings under § 154.010, the county's general standards for special use permits, or it can approve the sign subject to conditions limiting message brightness, message time intervals, or other factors the Board finds consistent with the intent of the sign subchapter.

The same permitting track applies whenever an existing static billboard is proposed to be converted to an electronic-messaging display, not just to brand-new signs. Because the code sets no fixed numeric brightness cap or dimming schedule, every allowable brightness and interval range is fixed case by case in the special use permit itself, and a sign that exceeds the brightness or interval limits written into its approved permit is out of compliance with that permit. Enforcement runs through the same channel as any other zoning violation: the Zoning Administrator can issue a notice of violation and, under § 154.005-11, a warning citation followed by escalating civil fines of $50, then $100, for each citation that follows.