Everett, WA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Video boards
- Prohibited outright, EMC 19.36.050(C)(7)
- Animation/video imaging
- Banned on all electronic changing message signs, (C)(3)
- Message timing
- 2-1-2 rule: 2 sec hold, 1 sec transition, 10 sec cycle
- Daytime brightness cap
- 5,000 nits maximum
- Nighttime brightness cap
- 150 nits maximum
- Light trespass limit
- 0.1 foot-candle at park or residential line
- Off-premise billboards
- Separately regulated under EMC Chapter 16.20
Summary
Electronic changing message signs are legal in Everett but tightly boxed in: no animation or video imaging, a mandatory 2-1-2 message transition, automatic dimming with nit caps that fall to 150 at night, and an outright ban on video boards, under Everett Municipal Code § 19.36.050(C).
C. Electronic Changing Message Signs. For any sign which meets the definition of electronic changing message sign, as defined in this title, the following provisions shall apply: ...
3. Any form of technology may be used for electronic changing message signs. However, animation, movement or video imaging is prohibited.
4. Electronic changing message signs shall maintain a 2-1-2 transition frequency. "2-1-2" means a message display time of a minimum of two seconds, a transition time between messages of a maximum of one second, followed by a message display time of a minimum of two seconds with all segments of the total message to be displayed within ten seconds. ...
7. Video boards shall be prohibited.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4194-26, passed July 29, 2026).
Full Breakdown
20 and barred outright from shoreline areas. Under subsection (C)(3), any form of technology may be used for electronic changing message signs, but animation, movement or video imaging is prohibited, and subsection (C)(7) is blunt: video boards shall be prohibited. Between those two limits sits a technical rulebook: messages must hold on screen at least two seconds, transition in no more than one second, and complete a full message cycle within ten seconds, the '2-1-2' rule; the sign must auto-dim to ambient light, capped at 5,000 nits by day and 150 nits at night as calculated for Everett, with light trespass held to one-tenth foot-candle at any park or residential property line; and the display must be built into a permanent, on-site sign rather than freestanding on its own.
Maximum sign area comes from Table 36-3 and depends on the property's sign category and whether it fronts a principal or minor/collector arterial, ranging from 15 to 24 square feet for the electronic message component alone. m.
Violations & Fines
A sign that violates Chapter 19.36, including an unpermitted video board or a display that skips the 2-1-2 transition rule, is enforced by the planning director under EMC 19.36.030(D) as a civil infraction under Chapter 1.20 EMC, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense, and it also stands as a public nuisance the city can abate through Snohomish County Superior Court, with costs taxed to the violator.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
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Digital Billboards in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Snohomish County handle digital billboards.