Fayette County, GA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Message change interval
- no faster than once per 15 seconds, § 108-169
- Faster-changing signs
- reclassified as prohibited animated signs
- Billboards
- banned outright regardless of display type
- Billboard threshold
- any sign over 60 sq ft, § 108-3
- Penalty
- up to $1,000 fine or 60 days jail
Summary
Digital billboards cannot exist in unincorporated Fayette County because billboards, any sign over 60 square feet, are banned outright. Smaller electronic changeable-copy signs that are otherwise allowed must hold each message static and change no more than once every 15 seconds.
The electronic change of letters, numerals, or graphics must be a static change and cannot dissolve, fade, flash, travel or scroll and must not change more than once every 15 seconds. A sign on which the letters, numerals or graphics change more than once every 15 seconds shall be considered an animated sign (prohibited) and not a changeable copy sign for purposes of this chapter.
Full Breakdown
Section 108-169 of the Fayette County Code regulates changeable copy signs: the electronic change of letters, numerals, or graphics must be a static change and cannot dissolve, fade, flash, travel, or scroll, and it must not change more than once every 15 seconds. A sign that changes its letters, numerals, or graphics more often than every 15 seconds is reclassified as an animated sign, which is separately prohibited under § 108-30(a)(1). This rule sets the outer limit for any electronic message board a permitted sign, such as a nonresidential freestanding or wall sign, is allowed to use.
It does not open the door to digital billboards, because § 108-30(a)(12) bans billboards, defined at § 108-3 as any sign exceeding 60 square feet, without regard to whether the display is static, printed, or electronic. In practice this means a business may install a compliant electronic message center within its permitted sign's size allowance under § 108-161 or § 108-162, holding each frame for at least 15 seconds, but cannot mount an off-premises digital billboard of any size or a large electronic display exceeding the 60-square-foot billboard threshold anywhere in the unincorporated county.
Violations & Fines
Operating a changeable copy sign that transitions faster than every 15 seconds reclassifies it as a prohibited animated sign under § 108-30(a)(1), and erecting any billboard, digital or otherwise, violates § 108-30(a)(12). Both are enforced under § 108-51(e) as a misdemeanor, with a fine up to $1,000.00 or up to 60 days imprisonment, each violating sign counted separately, and the county marshal authorized to issue the citation and the sign declared a public nuisance subject to county-ordered removal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a business install a digital billboard in unincorporated Fayette County?
How fast can an electronic message sign change?
What happens if a sign changes messages too quickly?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fayette County
Compare Fayette County to another location·View the Georgia sign regulations overview
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