Brunswick County, NC Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Brunswick County's Unified Development Ordinance regulates digital billboards as a subset of its off-premises sign standards, at Section 8.8.1.M, Requirements for Off-Premises Electronic Changeable Copy Signs, inside Article 8. Every electronic changeable-copy billboard must run light-sensitive automatic dimming controls so its brightness tracks ambient daylight, and it is capped at 0.3 foot-candles of illumination above ambient light, measured at a set distance from the sign using a formula printed in the code. If the sign malfunctions, it must be engineered to freeze on a single frame at no more than the maximum allowed brightness rather than flash or go blank erratically. Copy changes must be instantaneous, with no fading, scrolling or animation between messages, and a display cannot change more often than once every eight seconds, ruling out the rapid-cycling digital billboards seen in some other jurisdictions.

Placement carries its own buffer: an off-premises electronic changeable-copy sign must sit at least 250 feet from any residential zoning district, on top of the general off-premises sign standards in Section 8.8.1, including the 15-foot property-line setback and the road-based spacing rules separating billboards along US 17, US 74/76 and NC 211. Before the county issues a permit, the applicant must submit a signed letter from the sign's manufacturer certifying it can meet these standards, plus a signed letter from the sign's owner or operator promising not to tamper with the manufacturer's preset dimming and illumination settings.

This provision, added by Ordinance UDO-19-02 in September 2019, governs only unincorporated Brunswick County; digital signs inside Leland, Oak Island, Southport or the county's other towns are regulated by each town's own code.