Concord, NC Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

CDO Section 12.5.3, Digital Display Billboard Conversion, governs how an existing static billboard in Concord can become a digital display sign. Eligibility is location-specific: the existing sign must already be within 100 feet of the right-of-way of a limited access highway, a road especially designed for through traffic where abutting property owners have only a controlled right of access. The ordinance defines that term explicitly to cover interstates and other controlled-access roads regulated by entrance/exit ramps or driveway permits. A conversion is prohibited outright if it would sit within 500 feet of a residential use, measured from the closest point of the structure housing that use.

The minimum separation rule in Section 12.5.3.B is stricter than the general billboard spacing standard: a conversion cannot proceed if any other billboard of any type within the City of Concord's jurisdiction sits within 2,000 feet of the billboard proposed for conversion. If another billboard falls inside that 2,000-foot radius, it must be removed before a conversion permit can issue, and once the digital display goes up, no new billboard of any kind may be established within 2,000 feet of it going forward. Converted signs must still meet every general standard in Section 12.5.2 that applies, including the 378-square-foot maximum size along Interstate 85 (150 square feet elsewhere), the 30-foot height cap, and the 1,000-foot residential and inter-billboard separation distances, on top of the digital-specific NCDOT lighting and message-duration requirements in Section 12.5.3.C.