Edmonds, WA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Fastest lawful message change
- every 20 seconds
- Moving/scrolling messages
- prohibited
- Who may install a reader board
- public uses/places of assembly only
- Zoning permission
- conditional in every zone category
- Penalty
- misdemeanor, $25/day fine
Summary
Edmonds tightly restricts electronic reader board and digital message signs under its sign code. Messages that change faster than every 20 seconds count as blinking or flashing and are banned outright, and moving or scrolling text is never allowed. Reader boards are conditionally permitted only for public uses or places of public assembly, not ordinary businesses.
F. No sign shall have blinking, flashing, fluttering or moving lights or other illuminating device which has a changing light density or color; provided, however, temperature and/or time signs that conform in all other respects to this chapter are allowed. Electronic reader boards may have messages that change; however, moving messages are not allowed. Messages that change at intervals less than 20 seconds will be considered blinking or flashing and not allowed. ... ... 6. Reader board messages are limited to alphanumeric messages only. 7. Reader boards are only permitted for public uses or places of public assembly. Public uses and places of assembly include, but are not limited to, schools and churches as well as local and regional public facilities.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4444, passed August 3, 2026).
Full Breakdown
020(F) prohibits any sign with blinking, flashing, fluttering or moving lights or illumination that changes light density or color, with one exception for temperature or time signs. Electronic reader boards may display changing messages, but the message itself cannot move, and any change occurring in under 20 seconds is treated as blinking or flashing and barred, making 20 seconds the fastest lawful refresh interval. 020(N)(6), reader board messages are limited to alphanumeric characters only, ruling out graphics or video. Subsection (N)(7) confines reader boards to public uses or places of public assembly, expressly naming schools, churches, and local and regional public facilities, which excludes a private business installing a digital billboard for advertising.
020(M) marks reader boards "C" for conditionally permitted in every zoning category listed, downtown, the SR-99 corridor, neighborhood centers and hubs, neighborhood commercial zones, and business uses in RM zones, meaning none of them are permitted outright and each installation is reviewed against the standards in subsection (N). 100.
Violations & Fines
The planning and development director enforces the sign code under ECDC 20.60.100. Upon finding a violation, such as a reader board that scrolls, updates faster than 20 seconds, or is installed for a non-public use, the director sends written notice identifying the code section and a deadline to cure. An uncorrected violation is referred to the city attorney's office; conviction is a misdemeanor punishable by a $25.00 fine for each day the violation continues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a private business in Edmonds install a digital reader board sign?
How fast can an electronic sign's message change in Edmonds?
Is a permit required for a reader board sign?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Edmonds
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Digital Billboards in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Snohomish County handle digital billboards.