Tangipahoa Parish, LA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Sec. 4-64 of the parish code sets the lighting standards for off-premises outdoor advertising, the billboards that line Interstate 12, Interstate 55 and the parish's other thoroughfares. Illumination is allowed, but three restrictions apply. First, no revolving or rotating beam or beacon that simulates an emergency light or device may be used as part of any sign. Second, external lighting such as floodlights, thin-line fixtures and goose-neck reflectors is permitted only if the light source is aimed at the sign face and is effectively shielded so beams do not spill into the main travel way of the public thoroughfare.

Third, no sign may project into the direct line of vision of an official traffic control signal from any point in a moving traffic lane within 660 feet of that signal. The same section separately permits electronic variable message billboards, including commercial ones, that function like the parish's other multiple-message signs, so long as they do not interfere with traffic safety or resemble a traffic control or safety device. This lighting section works alongside the parish's broader illuminated-sign rules in Sec. 4-80, which bar blinking, flashing or fluttering lights and cap exposed bulbs at 25 watts, and it also feeds into the prohibited-sign list in Sec.

4-82, which bans confusing, distracting or intense illumination visible from a public right-of-way, including strobe-type lights and pulsating or moving light that could impair a driver's vision.