Waukegan, IL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Section 14-57(f) of the Waukegan City Code, part of Division 2 (Billboards) of the advertising article, provides the city's illumination standard: illuminated billboards must be shielded whenever necessary to avoid casting bright light upon property located in any residential district and upon the public right-of-way. That single sentence sits alongside a detailed set of dimensional rules for the same structures: bulletin boards can run up to 1,200 square feet of face area, poster board A signs up to 230 square feet with a maximum height of 25 feet, and poster board B signs up to 55 square feet capped at 15 feet, under Section 14-57(c) and (d).

Section 14-57(h) further restricts where illuminated billboards may go at all, permitting them only in specific commercial and industrial zoning districts such as B2 through B5 and I-1/I-2, several of which require a variance for a bulletin board. Enforcement of the shielding requirement runs through the building commissioner, who under Section 14-58(a) reviews permit applications, performs inspections, and issues citations for violations of the billboard division, while the code enforcement board reviews those citations, resolves interpretive disputes, and can order the removal of illegal or nonconforming billboards.

An owner who disputes a shielding citation may appeal to the code enforcement board and, if unsuccessful there, to the city council within 30 days of the board's decision.