Fort Collins, CO Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

1(G)(2) of Fort Collins' Sign Code prohibits billboards and permanent off-premises signs anywhere in the city, whether the display is static or digital; the ban sits alongside prohibitions on portable signs outside Chapter 24, wind-driven signs other than flags, inflatable signs, and revolving or rotating signs. A property owner cannot work around the billboard ban by making a static billboard digital, since the prohibition covers the use itself, not just its illumination method. 1(J)(2). Only one sign with an EMC component is allowed per street frontage, and the EMC must read as part of a larger sign that also carries non-electronic text or graphics rather than standing alone.

The EMC cannot exceed a 12 millimeter pixel pitch, cannot cover more than half the sign's total area, and cannot be the dominant visual element of the sign face. Signs with EMCs must sit at least 100 feet from another EMC sign or from residentially zoned or used property. Message changes are capped at once every 60 seconds, animated or fading transitions are barred, and dimming software must automatically adjust nighttime brightness. These Sign Code provisions applied to sign permits reviewed under the Transitional Land Use Code, the version Fort Collins used before its current Land Use Code, adopted by Ordinance No. 055, 2024, took effect May 17, 2024.