Brookhaven, GA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Chapter 21 defines an electronic sign as a message on a lawfully permitted sign, the electronic portion of which is changed at intervals by electronic process or by remote control; an LED sign is a form of electronic sign. Section 21-74(a) allows electronic signs only in C-1, C-2, M and M-2 zoning districts, and only if each of six standards is met. No message may be displayed for less than six seconds, and none may be repeated at intervals less than three seconds. No segmented message may last longer than ten seconds. A traveling message may not travel slower than 16 light columns per second or faster than 32. Brightness is capped at 6,300 nits during the daylight hours and 500 nits between dusk and dawn, measured from the sign's face at maximum brightness, and the electronic sign is limited to 25 percent of the sign area of the lawfully permitted sign. Subsection (c) bans illumination by blinking, scrolling, intermittent or flashing lights simulating movement.

Subsection (b) sets a separate track: one electronic sign as part of a lawfully permitted sign for places of worship, public or private elementary, middle or high schools, and other institutional uses. Electronic monument signs there are limited to a maximum height of 15 feet with sign copy area limited to 100 square feet, the sign must sit along a major or minor thoroughfare, the same 6,300 and 500 nit caps apply, and the sign must default to an electronic freeze and a black screen in a malfunction. The electronic message portion is limited to 25 percent of the 100-square foot sign area.

Owners carry an annual duty under subsection (d): certification to the director from an electrical engineer licensed in the state that the lighting meets the standards in effect, due no later than January 31 each year. Section 21-65(e) bars electronic signs in any residential use in a historic district and, in other residential zoning districts, allows only one per property for a place of worship or a private elementary, middle or high school. Under § 21-62(13), LED signs not meeting the standards of § 21-74 are prohibited, and under § 21-75(d) a nonconforming sign cannot change from a non-electronic to an electronic format unless it is brought fully into compliance.