Florence County, SC Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Sec. 30-207(f) permits 'digital and electronic changing message signs' as off-site signs, expressly including the conversion of 'preexisting, nonconforming off-site signs' into digital displays, and says that conversion 'shall not be considered as a removal, replacement, change, expansion, or restoration of a nonconformity,' as long as the converted sign's dimensions stay the same. Beyond that conversion allowance, the section sets nine numbered technical conditions.

Each message, image or display 'shall remain unchanged for a minimum of six seconds,' and the transition between messages is capped at 'a maximum of one second' with 'no appearance of a visual dissolve or fading' and 'no appearance of flashing or sudden bursts of light... or video motion, animation, movement or flow.' Light intensity and contrast must stay constant across the sign face, and every digital sign needs automatic day and night dimming software to cut illumination between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise. New installations must sit at least 650 feet from any other digital display facing the same direction.

Lighting is separately capped under subsection (9): brightness cannot increase more than 0.3 foot-candles over ambient levels, measured at preset distances that scale with sign size, 150 feet for displays up to 300 square feet, 200 feet up to 378 square feet, and 250 feet up to 672 square feet, and each display must carry a light-sensing device that adjusts brightness as ambient light changes.