Cary, NC Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Billboards
- Prohibited outright
- Digital signs
- Prohibited outright
- Electronic message signs
- Prohibited outright
- Exception
- Drive-through lane signs only
- Severability
- Billboard ban has its own clause
Summary
The Town of Cary bans off-site billboards, pole signs, and every digital or electronic message sign outright: the billboard ban even carries its own severability clause so it survives if other parts of the sign code are struck down.
The following signs are specifically prohibited, unless specified otherwise in this Chapter: ... (9) Off site signs, billboards, and pole signs. ... (19) Electronic changeable message signs. (20) Digital signs. (21) Intermittent signs. (22) Flashing signs.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2023 S-87_S-57: Current through local ordinance 2022-Code-05, passed 11-17-2022 and effective 11-17-2022 | LDO: Current through local ordinance 2022-LDO-04, passed 11-17-22 and effective 11-17-22).
Full Breakdown
LDO § 9.1.4(C) lists prohibited sign types for all property in Cary, including item (9), off-site signs, billboards, and pole signs, and items (19)-(20), electronic changeable message signs and digital signs. Drive-through lane signs are the code's only carved-out exception to the electronic-message ban. The Town underscores its commitment to the billboard ban with a standalone severability clause, LDO § 9.1.4(D), stating that even if a court strikes down another part of the sign chapter, the billboard prohibition itself survives intact.
Violations & Fines
Violating the ban draws civil penalties under LDO § 11.7.2(C): $100 for the first day, $250 for the second, and $500 per day after, plus injunctive removal of the sign.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are digital billboards allowed anywhere in Cary?
Could a court challenge overturn Cary's billboard ban?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cary
Compare Cary to another location·View the North Carolina sign regulations overview
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Digital Billboards in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Wake County handle digital billboards.