St. Tammany Parish, LA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

The parish's Unified Development Code regulates electronic variable message (EVM) signs, commonly called digital billboards, under Sec. 600-4.3(E), Electronic Variable Message Signs and Display. No EVM sign is permitted within a residential zoning district, and a development site may host only one EVM sign, whether it is built into a pylon sign, a monument sign, or a standalone electronic billboard. The code bars EVMs from being mounted as attached or hanging signs on a building.

Content and operation are tightly controlled. Messages must be static, with a minimum hold time of 8 seconds, and cannot move or create the illusion of movement; animation on electronic changeable message signs is separately listed as a prohibited sign type under Sec. 600-4.3(I). Illumination is measured with a footcandle meter comparing the sign off and displaying a solid message; the difference cannot exceed 0.3 footcandles at night, and every EVM must carry an automatic dimming sensor tied to ambient light. Every EVM needs a default frozen image so a malfunctioning display goes dark rather than showing a garbled message. Audio components and speakers are banned outright, and an existing legal nonconforming sign cannot be converted, in whole or in part, into an EVM.

Siting rules add distance requirements on top of the residential ban: a pylon or monument sign carrying an EVM must sit at least 100 feet from any existing electronic billboard, and any EVM must be set back at least 300 feet from a building containing residential dwelling units or from a residential zoning district, measured in a straight line to the nearest property line. For pylon and monument signs, the image portion of the electronic message cannot exceed 35 percent of the total sign area. Sign permits are issued through the Department of Planning and Development under the sign-permit procedures of Chapter 200, and enforcement runs through Sec. 600-4.2.