Annapolis, MD Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

The City's sign code lists prohibited signs under § 21.70.040: animated signs, billboards, flashing signs, portable signs, rotating signs, rooftop signs, signs above the roofline, and snipe signs. A digital billboard trips at least two of these bans at once, it is both a billboard and, by its changeable-message nature, an animated or flashing sign. Sign permits are issued only for signs that comply with Chapter 21.70 (§ 17.60.030), so the Director of Planning and Zoning has no authority to permit one, in any zoning district, including the B1 through B3 commercial districts. The prohibition dates to the 2005 zoning code and was untouched by the 2019 sidewalk-sign amendment (Ord. O-42-18).