York County, VA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

York County regulates sign lighting through two connected provisions. Sec. 24.1-702(k) sets a flat illuminance ceiling for every illuminated sign in the county: no more than 0.5 footcandle measured at any property line bordering non-residential zoning, and no more than 0.1 footcandle at any property line bordering residential zoning, with external fixtures required to be shielded and aimed so they don't throw glare onto neighboring roads or properties. Electronic message center signs face a tighter, separate brightness test under Sec. 24.1-702(l)(2): the difference between an ambient-light reading with the sign off and a reading with it lit cannot exceed 0.3 footcandle, checked with a calibrated illuminance meter at a distance keyed to the sign's square footage.

But the county doesn't stop at brightness. Sec. 24.1-708(g) bans off-premises signs with commercial content outright, meaning a business cannot rent space on someone else's property, along an interstate or anywhere else, to display advertising for a use that isn't on that property; only off-premises directional signs, permitted separately under Sec. 24.1-706 with green, blue, or brown backgrounds, are exempted from that ban. In practice this means the billboard format itself, not just its lighting, is unlawful in York County outside the narrow directional-sign carveout, so a would-be billboard operator cannot cure the problem by dimming the lights. The Zoning Administrator issues sign permits under Sec. 24.1-702(b) and can order noncompliant signage brought into compliance or removed.