Kootenai County, ID Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Where allowed
- Commercial, light industrial, industrial zones only
- Size cap, low speed
- 25 sq ft, 12 ft tall (25 mph)
- Size cap, high speed
- 200 sq ft, 40 ft tall (55+ mph)
- Monument sign EMC height cap
- 6 feet
- Banned in
- Ag, rural, residential, mining zones
- Exception
- Schools, churches, assembly halls
Summary
Kootenai County has no standalone digital billboard category; it regulates the technology as an electronic message center. The county allows one only as part of a pole, monument or wall sign in the commercial, light industrial and industrial zones, sized off a speed-limit table. The same feature is banned outright in agricultural, rural and residential zones, aside from schools, churches and assembly halls.
1. One pole sign, projecting sign, or banner sign, with the size and height of the sign not to exceed the dimensions shown in table 4-803 of this section. This sign may be illuminated in conformance with the requirements of this section, and may include an electronic message center, providing the sign and message center together do not exceed the dimensions shown in table 4-803 of this section. ... the following are prohibited in the agricultural, rural, agricultural suburban, restricted residential, mining, and high density residential zones in addition to the general prohibitions set forth in this section: ... 2. Electronic message centers.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-10: Code current through: Ord. 633, passed December 23, 2025).
Full Breakdown
805(A)(1) lets a commercial, light industrial or industrial parcel put up one pole, projecting or banner sign that 'may include an electronic message center,' as long as the sign and message center together stay within the dimensions of table 4-803. That table scales the maximum sign face and height to the posted speed limit and number of travel lanes fronting the parcel, from 25 square feet and 12 feet tall on a 25 mph, 2-3 lane road up to 200 square feet and 40 feet tall on a 55-plus mph, 4-or-more-lane road.
805(A)(2) can also carry an electronic message center within the same table, capped at 6 feet in height. 804, which separately outlaws flashing, animated and revolving signs everywhere. 805(C): schools, places of worship and places of assembly may use the commercial-zone sign allowance, electronic message center included, regardless of the zone they actually sit in.
Violations & Fines
Placing an electronic message center in a zone where section 8.4.805(D)(2) bars it, or building one larger than table 4-803 allows in a commercial zone, is a title 8 sign violation and exposes the sign to the county's zoning enforcement process and removal. Requests to deviate from the article 4.8 dimensional standards run through the variance procedure at section 8.4.806, decided under section 8.8.203; appeals from a staff interpretation follow section 8.4.807 via title 8, article 8.5.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put up a digital billboard in unincorporated Kootenai County?
Are electronic message centers allowed on agricultural or residential lots?
How big can a commercial-zone digital message sign be?
Do churches or schools get an exception to the residential-zone ban?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kootenai County
Compare Kootenai County to another location·View the Idaho sign regulations overview
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