Catoosa County, GA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Billboard rule
- No changeable or electronic copy on any billboard
- General sign exception
- Up to 50% electronic on commercial/industrial ground signs only
- Message speed cap
- Change no more than once per 10 seconds
- Brightness limit
- 0.3 foot-candle above ambient, certified by manufacturer
- Applies to
- Interstate and non-interstate billboards alike
Summary
Unincorporated Catoosa County bans digital and electronic billboards outright. The Unified Development Code prohibits electronic signs, aside from a narrow carve-out letting up to 50 percent of a commercial or industrial ground or pole sign's area be electronic, but interstate and non-interstate billboards are expressly barred from having any changeable copy, electronic or manual, including LED and LCD displays.
Q.Electronic signs, including LED and LCD signs and similar type technologies (except as permitted by this Section). ... B.Electronic signs are prohibited, with the exception that up to 50 percent of the allowable sign area for permanent ground signs or pole signs in commercial and industrial districts may be an electronic sign upon meeting the following requirements: ... C.Interstate billboards shall not have changeable copy (electronic or manual) nor shall they be manual message signs as defined in this UDC. This requirement prohibits all electronic signs and digital displays (including LED, LCD and similar technology). ... C.Non-interstate billboards shall not have changeable copy (electronic or manual) nor shall they be manual message signs as defined in this UDC. This requirement prohibits all electronic signs and digital displays (including LED, LCD and similar technology).
Full Breakdown
Section 5.05.06(Q) of the Unified Development Code lists electronic signs, including LED and LCD signs and similar type technologies, among the county's prohibited sign types, except as permitted elsewhere in the section. The one exception, in Section 5.05.07(B), lets up to 50 percent of the allowable sign area for a permanent ground sign or pole sign in a commercial or industrial district carry electronic messaging, but only if the message is static with no scrolling, flashing, or blending, changes no more than once every 10 seconds, uses one text color on one background color, and runs through a dimmer control and photocell that adjusts brightness to ambient light, with the manufacturer certifying the pre-set intensity does not exceed three-tenths of one foot candle above ambient light.
Billboards do not get that exception. Section 5.05.10(C) states that interstate billboards shall not have changeable copy, electronic or manual, nor be manual message signs, and adds that this requirement prohibits all electronic signs and digital displays, including LED, LCD, and similar technology. Section 5.05.11(C) repeats the identical ban for non-interstate billboards. So while a gas station or shopping center sign can carry a limited electronic display, a large-format billboard along I-75 or any county road cannot be digital at all, regardless of size, brightness controls, or message-change speed.
Violations & Fines
Installing a digital or electronic billboard, or converting an existing billboard face to LED or LCD display, is a prohibited sign under Sections 5.05.06(Q), 5.05.10(C), and 5.05.11(C), enforceable through the county's sign permit and inspection process in Section 5.05.03; the Zoning Administrator can deny the permit outright or issue a notice of violation requiring the sign to be brought into conformance or removed once erected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a billboard along I-75 in Catoosa County have a digital display?
Are digital signs allowed anywhere in the county?
Why doesn't the electronic sign exception apply to billboards?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Catoosa County
Compare Catoosa County to another location·View the Georgia sign regulations overview
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