Blue Earth County, MN Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 24-311(e) of the Blue Earth County Code lists prohibited signs for all unincorporated land in the county. Item (5) prohibits signs with rotating beam or flashing illumination, and item (10) separately prohibits rotating signs, language that reaches digital and electronic billboard displays built around flashing lamps, rotating message drums or animated beams. The same subsection bars signs that interfere with a traffic signal, signs in the public right-of-way, signs resembling official traffic markers, and signs attached to trees or utility poles. Where an off-premises billboard is otherwise allowed, section 24-311(i) permits it only by interim use permit in the GB, HB, LI and HI districts, capped at 700 square feet of total sign area, computed on one face of a double-faced sign, and 30 feet in height, with a minimum 200-foot separation from any residential district, park, playground, school or building used for religious purposes.

Off-premises signs along a designated highway not adjacent to a front property line need a five-foot setback; otherwise the setback from street right-of-way is 20 feet. A digital billboard that stays static between message changes and does not use a rotating beam, flashing illumination or physical rotation can still qualify as a conforming off-premises sign if it meets these size, height and separation limits and secures an interim use permit from the Board of Commissioners.