Cook County, IL Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Article 12 of the Cook County Zoning Ordinance (Appendix A), comprehensively re-adopted by Ord. No. 25-0036 on April 10, 2025, regulates on-premises signs and notes that off-premises billboards are separately addressed under Chapter 114. 4 sets the standard for dynamic image display signs, the electronic and digital displays used for changing on-premises messaging, including digital billboard-style faces. Sec. unless the business the sign advertises is open, in which case it may stay lit up to 250 nits. Sec. 2 limits how often the display can change: no more than once every ten seconds, with any twirl transition capped at a quarter of a second, and Sec.

3 separately bans all motion, fading, dissolving, blinking or transitioning the message from one face to another. Sec. 4 requires an automatic dimmer or shutoff that kills the sign or turns it black if it malfunctions, plus a pre-permit affidavit (retested annually) attesting the sign meets these limits, with luminance tested at full white. These signs still need the underlying two-year sign permit under Sec. 1, issued by the Department of Building and Zoning, which can be revoked for noncompliance.