Downey, CA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 9622, Billboards (Off-Site Signs), is the only provision in Downey's sign code addressing off-premises advertising structures, and it makes no distinction between a static printed billboard and a digital or electronic one; both fall under the same standards. Location is tightly restricted: billboards "shall only be permitted in the M-1 and M-2 Zones subject to approval of a Conditional Use Permit," meaning a discretionary hearing rather than a staff-level sign permit. A new billboard cannot go up within 500 feet of an existing off-premises sign on the same street or within 200 feet of a street intersection.

" The clause most relevant to a digital display is § 9622(b)(4): "Signs that do not have advertising copy for a period of 45 days shall be removed," language that applies just as directly to a digital face stuck on a blank screen as to an abandoned static panel. Billboards must also be set back at least 20 feet from the street property line, cannot sit within 300 feet of residentially zoned or public/quasi-public property, cannot be closer than 25 feet to a building on an adjoining lot, and must comply with the general lighting standards of § 9624, which caps interior sign illumination at 430 milliamperes unless a manufacturer certifies higher intensity for low-transmission panels.