Washington County, UT Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Billboards
- Off-premises signs banned outright
- Digital tech banned
- LED, LCD, flashing/moving lights
- Existing billboards
- Legal nonconforming, can't add digital tech
- Zones covered
- Commercial, industrial, manufacturing
- Adopted
- Ord. 2014-1042-O, 11-18-2014
- Enforcement
- Building inspector, § 10-19-2
Summary
Washington County bans off-premises signs and billboards outright, and § 10-19-3(B)(12) goes further: no legally existing sign in the county's commercial, industrial or manufacturing zones may be converted to flashing, intermittent, or moving lights, including LED or LCD electronic and digital display technology of any type.
12. Off Premises Signs Or Billboards: Off premises or billboard signs are prohibited. No sign shall be erected or maintained on a parcel, lot or project area other than a sign advertising the business, activity, product or service conducted on the premises where the sign is located, such as billboards. Any legally existing sign is a nonconforming use. No legally existing sign shall be erected or maintained on a parcel, lot or project area that employs flashing, intermittent, or moving light(s) such as electronic or digital display technologies of any type (LED, LCD, etc.)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-17: Code current through: Ord. 2026-1329-O, passed 8-18-2026).
Full Breakdown
Washington County's ban on off-premises advertising sits in § 10-19-3(B)(12), within the commercial, industrial and manufacturing zone sign standards. It states plainly that off-premises or billboard signs are prohibited, meaning no sign anywhere in those zones may advertise a business, product or activity that isn't actually conducted on the parcel where the sign stands; a sign that only exists to advertise a use elsewhere is a billboard for purposes of this rule regardless of what it's labeled. A billboard legally in place before the current rule took effect is grandfathered as a nonconforming use rather than ordered removed outright, but the same paragraph closes off a technology loophole: even a legally existing sign cannot be retrofitted with flashing, intermittent or moving lights, expressly naming electronic or digital display technology such as LED and LCD panels.
That means a longstanding billboard cannot be converted into a digital billboard that rotates advertising content, and a new digital or LED display of any kind is barred outright in these zones. The prohibition sits alongside the chapter's separate ban on animated signs generally, § 10-19-3(B)(7), which bars flashing, message boards, and animation on any freestanding, low profile or monument sign, on or off premises, reinforcing that Washington County treats moving or changing sign images as incompatible with its sign code no matter the technology used to produce them.
Violations & Fines
Installing a billboard or converting an existing sign to a digital or LED display in violation of § 10-19-3(B)(12) is enforced the same way as any illegal sign under § 10-19-2: the building inspector issues a notice of violation, and if the sign isn't brought into conformance within thirty working days, the county abates and removes it, billing the cost to the sign's owner or the person benefiting from it. A permit denial or removal order can be appealed under § 10-2-4.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are digital billboards allowed anywhere in Washington County?
Can an old billboard already standing before the ban be converted to an LED display?
What about an on-premises sign with a scrolling message board?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Washington County
Compare Washington County to another location·View the Utah sign regulations overview
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