Aurora, CO Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Sign type allowed
- Monument signs only
- Max EMB area
- 50% of sign face
- Min message duration
- 8 seconds, static
- Transition
- Dissolve/fade only, ≤1 sec
- Overlay exception
- Wall signs in Special Commercial Sign Overlay
Summary
Aurora caps electronic message boards at 50% of a monument sign face, bans scrolling or flashing, and requires 8-second-minimum static messages.
An electronic message board is limited to use on monument signs only and shall be integrated into the overall sign face. The area of the electronic message board signage shall not exceed 50 percent of the total sign area of the sign face. The electronic message display must be programmed so it does not change more frequently than once every eight seconds... The board shall contain static messages only, changed only through dissolve or fade transitions...
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-30, passed June 22, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Aurora's Unified Development Ordinance treats digital billboards as "electronic message boards" (EMBs) and confines them to monument signs only, integrated into the overall sign face -- they cannot be freestanding digital billboards or wall-mounted. The electronic portion cannot exceed 50% of the total sign face area. Messages must hold for at least eight seconds and change instantly via dissolve or fade only -- no scrolling, flashing, blinking, or movement -- with the transition itself capped at one second. Boards must include automatic dimming or solar sensors for nighttime brightness. Existing noncompliant EMBs got 180 days from the 2019 adoption to conform. Within the city's Special Commercial Sign Overlay Districts, EMBs may also integrate into wall signs, still capped at 50% of that sign's area.
Violations & Fines
Zoning code enforcement is complaint- and inspection-driven; noncompliant EMBs are subject to the general UDO sign-enforcement and correction process, not a per-day fine schedule stated in this section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a business in Aurora put up a digital billboard on a pole sign?
Can an Aurora digital sign scroll or flash text?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Aurora
Compare Aurora to another location·View the Colorado sign regulations overview
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Digital Billboards in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Arapahoe County handle digital billboards.