Tippecanoe County, IN Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 4-8-10 of the Unified Zoning Ordinance governs every outdoor advertising sign, the code's name for a billboard, whether static or digital. Billboards are permitted only in GB, I1, I2 and I3 zones countywide (I2 and I3 only inside West Lafayette), subject to the Permitted Use Table in Section 3-2. Each advertising face is capped at 300 square feet, and a structure may carry only one face or two back-to-back faces; stacked or side-by-side billboards are prohibited outright. No billboard may stand closer than 300 feet to a residential use or residential zone, closer than 25 feet to a street right-of-way, or within 1,000 feet of another billboard, measured radially.

Height is capped at 25 feet, rising one foot for every extra foot of setback beyond 25 feet, up to a 50-foot ceiling. The animation rule in subsection (h) is the operative digital-sign standard: a billboard "may change its message or lighting no more than once per minute," which bars the rapid-cycling electronic displays common on interstate billboards elsewhere. A permit from the Area Plan Commission's Administrative Officer is required before erection, and the Administrative Officer or Area Board of Zoning Appeals (ABZA) enforces every dimensional and animation standard in the section.