Detroit, MI Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Downtown (CBD)
- Dynamic billboards banned except Entertainment District
- Entertainment District cap
- 3,500 nits, unlimited number/size
- Outside CBD spacing
- 1,750 ft between dynamic/lit billboards
- Permit review
- Traffic Engineering traffic-safety finding required
- Fines
- $600 to $3,000, escalating per violation
Summary
Detroit bars dynamic (digital) advertising signs, billboards, in the Central Business District except inside the designated Entertainment District, while dynamic billboards elsewhere in the city need a Traffic Engineering Division permit finding and must clear stricter spacing than static signs.
(7)Dynamic operation. No local advertising sign may be dynamic, with the exception of advertising signs located in the Entertainment District, which may be dynamic in accordance with the standards set forth in Division 3, Subdivision B, of this article.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 4).
Full Breakdown
Detroit City Code Chapter 4, Article IV splits advertising-sign rules by location. Downtown, Sec. 4-4-128 forbids any 'local' or 'super-advertising' sign from operating as dynamic (digital) signage, with one carve-out: the Entertainment District, where dynamic and even animated displays run up to 3,500 nits with no time restriction. Outside downtown, Sec. 4-4-102 requires the Department of Public Works Traffic Engineering Division to specifically find that a proposed dynamic sign's operation won't impair traffic safety before a permit issues, and Sec. 4-4-103 pushes dynamic or internally lit advertising signs to a 1,750-foot minimum spacing from other signs facing the same direction, versus 1,000 feet for static ones.
Violations & Fines
Displaying or altering an advertising sign in violation is a blight violation under Sec. 4-4-2(d)(2): $600 for a first offense, $1,200 for a second, $3,000 for each offense after that, assessed per day the violation continues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are digital billboards allowed in downtown Detroit?
Can a digital billboard go up elsewhere in Detroit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Detroit
Compare Detroit to another location·View the Michigan sign regulations overview
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Digital Billboards in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Wayne County handle digital billboards.