Decatur, AL Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Decatur's sign article never uses the phrase digital billboard. Two definitions in § 25-72 do the work. A billboard is an off-premise sign: a sign that draws attention to a business, product, service or activity at a location other than the premises where the sign stands, or that carries a message unrelated to those premises. A changeable copy sign is a sign whose message is changed by physical replacement or by electronic change not more than once every five seconds.

Section 25-76(j) bars flashing, intermittent, rotating or moving lights, and lights of changing intensity, that are visible from a public street or highway. It then carves out changeable copy signs, which are allowed to use electronic message signs. An electronic display in Decatur therefore cannot flash or animate, and its message change is tied to the five-second definition.

The larger constraint is § 25-76(p). New off-premise signs, other than directional signs, are not permitted within the city limits. A billboard already standing that is later destroyed or removed can be put back only within six months. If the old sign conformed on the date of removal, the replacement must meet every requirement then in force and sit at the same location. If it did not conform, the replacement cannot exceed 400 square feet or 30 feet in height. Miss the six-month window and the location is no longer available for an off-premise sign.

Size caps in § 25-76(a)(3) apply in any district: 30 feet high, 40 feet long and 400 square feet per side. In the B-2, B-3, M-1, M-2 and M-1A districts, § 25-77(e)(5) adds spacing: 1,000 feet from another detached off-premise sign on the same side of the street, 200 feet from a residential district and 100 feet from an intersection of public highways or streets. Maintenance of an off-premise sign, including altering, replacing or repairing it, is capped at $7,500 in a twelve-month period under § 25-72(18), and § 25-75 requires no permit for work valued under $1,000.