Weld County, CO Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Allowed zones
- Commercial, Industrial, and matching PUDs only
- Residential buffer
- 500 feet unless facing away
- Max area on a sign
- 50% freestanding or wall sign area
- Minimum change interval
- 10 seconds
- Required safety feature
- automatic malfunction shut-off
- General light spillover cap
- 0.3 footcandle over ambient (§23-4-70)
Summary
Weld County only allows electronic message displays, its term for digital billboards, in Commercial and Industrial zones. Sec. 23-4-80 keeps them at least 500 feet from residential land, caps them at 50 percent of a sign's area, and bans images that change more than once every 10 seconds.
Sec. 23-4-80. - Electronic message displays. A.ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAYS are only allowed in Commercial and Industrial zoning districts and PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS with Commercial and Industrial zone USES...B.ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAYS shall not be located within five hundred (500) feet of any LOT zoned Residential, Estate, or PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT with Residential or Estate USES or any incorporated LOT with residential USES, unless the ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAY faces away from the residential LOT.C.No more than fifty (50) percent of the area of a FREESTANDING SIGN may consist of an ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAY...E....The display of an ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAY, including its brightness, shall not change more frequently than every ten (10) seconds.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Charter and County Code: Supplement 95).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 23-4-80(A) restricts ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAYS to "Commercial and Industrial zoning districts and PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS with Commercial and Industrial zone USES," and applies the same rule to public agency signs regardless of the agency's own zoning. within five hundred (500) feet of any LOT zoned Residential, Estate, or PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT with Residential or Estate USES or any incorporated LOT with residential USES," unless the display faces away from the residential lot. Subsections C and D cap how much of a sign the display can occupy: no more than 50 percent of a freestanding sign's area and no more than 50 percent of a wall sign's area, with the display projecting no more than one foot off the wall.
Subsection E requires a malfunction shut-off, automatic dimming or ambient-light monitoring for nighttime brightness, and limits how fast the message can change: "the display of an ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAY, including its brightness, shall not change more frequently than every ten (10) seconds," and transitions must be instant, dissolve, or fade rather than anything resembling moving text or images. These sign-specific rules sit on top of the county's general sign lighting standard in Sec. 23-4-70(B), which caps light spillover from any illuminated sign, including an electronic display, at three-tenths of a footcandle above ambient conditions on an adjoining lot or right-of-way.
Violations & Fines
Erecting or operating an electronic message display outside a Commercial or Industrial zone, within the 500-foot residential buffer, or in violation of the size and timing limits is an unlawful use of land under Sec. 23-10-20, a misdemeanor carrying up to a $100 fine or 10 days in jail per day of violation. Sec. 23-10-40 also allows the County Attorney to pursue a civil penalty of $25 to $1,000, plus a continuing penalty of up to $100 per day the noncompliant sign remains, and the County may remove any sign erected in its right-of-way without notice under Sec. 23-4-70(C).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put a digital billboard on my property in unincorporated Weld County?
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Weld County
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