Bristol, PA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Bristol Borough Code § 27-607, Subsection 4, opens with a ban: flashing, blinking, twinkling, animated or moving signs of any type are prohibited. Two exceptions survive, time and temperature readouts and electronic message board signs. Part 2 of Chapter 27 defines an electronic message board sign as a sign with changing letters, words, messages or displays which are illuminated and which are operated by a computer or other electronic device. That definition is how Borough Council regulates digital displays in Bristol Borough.

An electronic sign has to meet every condition in Subsection 4B. It is permitted only in the HC-1 District. It must be spaced at least 500 feet from another electronic message board sign or from a billboard on the same side of the street, and no closer than 50 feet from an R-1, R-1A, R-2 or R-3 District measured along the same side of the street. The setback from the street right-of-way is at least 20 feet. Area is capped at 75% of the maximum sign area that Table 27-6-B sets for the HC-1 District for the type of sign structure the electronic sign is classified as. Bulbs used for lighting in the HC-1 District cannot exceed 25 watts, no sign can be lit so that it interferes with or obscures an official traffic sign, device or signal, and illuminated letters, words, messages or displays cannot change more frequently than every 10 seconds. Subsection 4B(9) adds that the other applicable sign provisions of the chapter must also be met.

Traditional billboards run on a separate track in § 27-602, Subsection 2A. They are off-premises advertising signs limited to 200 square feet, permitted only in the HC-1 District, set back at least 20 feet from the street right-of-way, spaced no closer than 1,000 feet from another billboard on the same side of the street, and located no closer than 500 feet from the H Historic District, a historic site or structure. Section 27-609 also prohibits, in all districts, any sign which flashes, rotates, revolves or oscillates, with the exception of barber poles. Subsection 4B(10) states that outdoor video or television images incorporated in or located on a sign are not prohibited by the section.