Bothell, WA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

BMC 12.22.020 defines a billboard as a large fixed outdoor advertising sign with one or more structural supports, with faces ranging from 12 to 14 feet in height and 24 to 48 feet in width. BMC 12.22.050(K) prohibits billboards, and BMC 12.22.070 prohibits permanent off-premises signs throughout the city, in all zones, with the exception of governmental signs. The sign category table in BMC 12.22.030 marks permanent off-premises signs as Prohibited in residential zones and in the R-AC, NB, CB, GC, OP and LI zones. The definition of off-premises sign names billboards and other outdoor advertising structures as examples.

Electronic message displays are named in the animation rule. BMC 12.22.050(B) says no sign shall be animated, revolve or rotate either mechanically or by illumination except the movement of the hands of a clock, electronic message displays and barber poles. That exception removes the animation bar for those displays but leaves in place subsection C, which prohibits signs significantly distracting to vehicle operators, such as those containing flashing, moving or intermittent lights, or with a concentrated light source or glare of an intensity that creates a safety hazard to motorists or pedestrians.

On-premises signs are handled in BMC 12.22.060. The code defines a changeable copy sign as a sign designed to allow the changing of copy through manual, mechanical, or electrical means including time and temperature, and BMC 12.22.110 requires no permit for changing the message on a sign designed for changeable copy as long as the sign structure is not modified. For a single use in the R-AC, NB, CB, OP, GC and LI zones, a freestanding sign is limited to 50 square feet, and either indirect or internal illumination is permitted. In residential zones only indirect illumination is permitted. BMC 12.22.130(H) requires illumination to be shaded, shielded, directed or reduced to avoid undue brightness, glare, or reflection and unreasonable distraction to pedestrians or motorists. Chapter 20.20 BMC also contains a billboard chapter, with a city clerk permit and a bar on any billboard closer than 25 feet to a dwelling.