Burleson, TX Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 63-55 of the Burleson Code of Ordinances regulates permanent off-premises signs, the code's term for billboards. The construction of new ones is prohibited in any zoning district effective September 1, 2002, and also in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. The existing nonconforming billboards adjacent to interstate highways and federal-aid primary highways, as the Highway Beautification Act defines them, remain subject to the section, and all Texas Department of Transportation regulations apply in addition to the city chapter. Section 63-11(1) repeats the ban on permanent off-premises signs in the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Digital conversion is handled in subsection (a)(2). Converting an existing sign to a digital sign is considered a face change and is allowed, but it does not change the nonconforming status of the sign. The code defines face change to include converting a traditional billboard to an electronic billboard, including the structure changes needed to allow the face change. Under § 63-2, every face change needs the appropriate permit under § 63-10. Message changes on digital signs are allowed at a two-second transition with an eight-second hold time.

Physical limits for these billboards sit in the same section. Each panel or sign cannot exceed 300 square feet in total area, no more than two panels or sign faces are allowed for each sign, and no sign can exceed 60 feet in length, inclusive of border and trim. Height is a maximum of 30 feet, 50 feet along SH 174 and 70 feet along IH 35, with a ten-foot clearance from ground to sign. No sign can extend into the Spinks Airport air hazard zone. Brightness limits for digital faces are in § 63-55(d), covered on the billboard lighting page. Section 63-3 limits what a nonconforming sign owner can alter, and § 63-11(3) separately prohibits moving, whirling and flashing signs except reader boards.