Bulloch County, GA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Bulloch County Zoning Ordinance § 2208 governs changeable-copy and electronic message center (EMC) signs, including digital billboard faces, wherever they are added to a permanent sign that already meets Article 22's other requirements in unincorporated Bulloch County. The changeable or electronic portion cannot exceed 50 percent of the sign's total display surface, and the whole sign, digital portion included, still has to fit within the overall size limits set elsewhere in the article, including the 378-square-foot cap on ordinary billboards and the 672-square-foot cap for billboards visible from Interstate 16 under Section 2212.

Content transitions are restricted for driver safety: an EMC sign may only display a static image for at least eight seconds before switching to the next one, and while frame effects are allowed during the transition, actual animation and flashing are prohibited outright. 3 foot-candles of light above ambient, measured with a foot-candle meter at a distance keyed to the sign's square footage, ranging from 32 feet for a 10-square-foot sign up to 87 feet for a 75-square-foot sign. Because an EMC sign is only allowed as part of an otherwise-conforming permanent sign, it must go through the same permit application and 15-business-day review under Section 2203 as any other permanent sign, and it remains subject to the county's general prohibition on illuminated signs that impair the vision of the traveling public under Section 2209.