Garland, TX Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum conventional sign size to convert
- 350 square feet
- Maximum digital face size
- 700 square feet
- Spacing from another digital billboard
- 1,500 feet minimum
- Setback from residential lot
- 300 feet minimum
- Max height
- 50 feet (or 42.5 ft above highway)
- Message change speed
- Within 2 seconds, 8-second minimum display
Summary
Converting a conventional billboard to digital in Garland requires a Building Official-approved permit under GDC § 4.73, limited to conventional signs of at least 350 square feet along IH-635, IH-30, or State Highway 190. New digital faces cap at 700 square feet, must sit 1,500 feet from another digital billboard and 300 feet from any residential lot, and cannot exceed 50 feet in height.
"Digital billboard" means a sign, display, or device with a sign face of a minimum of 350 square feet, which is capable of producing an animated or moving digital image, copy, or video by electronic means, and is operated by an entity possessing an outdoor advertising license issued by the Texas Department of Transportation and all other governmental agencies having jurisdiction. A digital billboard may not be located within 300 feet of any lot located in a residential district, measured radially. Digital billboard support structures may not exceed an overall height of 50 feet or 42.5 feet above the nearest point on the travel surface of the highway, whichever is higher, except that no digital billboard may be higher than the conventional sign it replaced. Digital billboard operators must respond to a malfunction within one hour after notification and must remedy the malfunction within 12 hours after notification.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4862189; v40 updated 2026-05-19).
Full Breakdown
63 as a sign face of at least 350 square feet capable of an animated or moving digital image, operated only by an entity holding a Texas Department of Transportation outdoor advertising license. 78(K)). To convert, the owner submits a digital billboard permit application to the Building Official, then must demolish the old conventional sign face and, under the sign-face exchange ratio, remove three square feet of other detached conventional billboard face within the City for every one square foot converted to digital (two-to-one if the removed sign is an interior, non-highway sign).
The new digital face cannot exceed the old conventional face and never more than 700 square feet. 5 feet above the highway surface, whichever is higher). Digital billboards need a dimmer control and photocell, must change messages within 2 seconds after an 8-second minimum display, and must respond to a malfunction within 1 hour and fix it within 12 hours, freezing the display until repaired.
Violations & Fines
Operating a digital billboard, or converting a conventional sign to digital, without an approved Section 4.73 permit and a completed demolition/exchange-ratio removal is an unpermitted sign under the Garland Development Code, enforceable through the Building Official's sign-removal authority in Section 4.74. A malfunctioning digital display that isn't frozen and fixed within the Section 4.73(I) 1-hour/12-hour response window is a separate compliance failure the Building Official can act on directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can any billboard in Garland be converted to digital?
How close can two digital billboards be in Garland?
What happens if a Garland digital billboard malfunctions?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Garland
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