Tazewell County, IL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Brightness cap
- 2,500 Lambert
- Banned bulb types
- Exposed reflective, strobe, unshielded incandescent
- Flashing/rotating lights
- Prohibited on any sign
- Billboards allowed only
- Via special use in C-2, I-1, I-2
- Fine for violation
- Up to $500 per offense
Summary
Illuminated signs, including off-premises billboards permitted as special uses in Tazewell County's commercial and industrial districts, cannot exceed 2,500 Lamberts of brightness under Zoning Code § 157.340. The same section bans exposed reflective bulbs, strobe lights, and unshielded incandescent lamps on any sign's exterior.
§ 157.340 ILLUMINATION STANDARDS. Internally or externally illuminated signs shall meet the following requirements.
(A) Signs shall be illuminated only by steady, stationary, shielded, or shaded light sources directed solely at the sign, or internal to it so the light intensity or brightness does not create either a nuisance to adjacent property or a traffic hazard for motorist or pedestrians. No sign shall be illuminated at a light level that exceeds 2,500 Lambert.
(B) Except where a combination of individual exposed bulbs displays information, such as time, temperature, or date illuminated signs, no exposed reflective-type bulb and no strobe light or unshielded incandescent lamp shall be used on the exterior surface of any sign.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-7: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. LU-21-12, passed 9-29-2021; and Res. LU-26-09, passed 7-29-2026).
Full Breakdown
341. 340 like every other illuminated sign in the county. That section requires any internally or externally illuminated sign to use only steady, stationary, shielded, or shaded light sources aimed solely at the sign, at an intensity that does not create a nuisance to adjacent property or a traffic hazard for motorists or pedestrians, and it fixes a hard ceiling of 2,500 Lambert. Division (B) separately bars exposed reflective-type bulbs, strobe lights, or unshielded incandescent lamps on a sign's exterior, with a narrow carve-out for signs that display time, temperature, or date using a bank of individual exposed bulbs.
337(D): its illumination must be directed at the face, shaded, and limited so no glare reaches residential occupants, and no sign anywhere in the county, billboard or otherwise, may use flashing, rotating, or moving intermittent lights. 447 that governs billboard approval in the first place.
Violations & Fines
Illuminating a billboard or other sign beyond the 2,500-Lambert cap, or using a banned bulb type, is a petty offense under § 157.999(B)(1), punishable by a fine of up to $500 per offense, with each week the violation continues treated as a separate offense; the county may also seek a court order to abate it under § 157.999(C).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a brightness limit for illuminated billboards in Tazewell County?
Can a billboard have flashing or strobe lighting?
What extra lighting rule applies if a billboard faces a residential area?
Who reviews a billboard's lighting before it can be built?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tazewell County
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