Harrisburg, PA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Harrisburg Codified Ordinances § 7-325.14 regulates off-premises signs, the Code's term for billboards, in the City of Harrisburg. Every requirement in subsection A must be met. An off-premises sign is permitted only in the IND District and only within a maximum of 250 feet of the existing right-of-way of an arterial street or expressway. Each sign face has a maximum sign area of 350 square feet, a maximum of two sign faces can be attached, and the total height is a maximum of 40 feet above the average surrounding ground level. Item (6) settles the digital question: an off-premises sign can have direct or indirect lighting, but internal illumination and electronically changing signage is prohibited.

Spacing and setbacks stack on top of that. Each off-premises sign has to be separated by a minimum of 500 feet from any other off-premises sign, including existing signs in other municipalities. The sign has to sit 250 feet from a residential lot line, 10 feet from any building, 50 feet from an existing hospital building or nursing home building, and 10 feet from the existing right-of-way of a public street or any other lot line. Two faces count as one location only if they are generally back-to-back, and V-shaped installations are regarded as one location providing they have a maximum open space of five feet.

Subsection B states the City's reasons, including preventing excessive light and glare on adjacent property and streets and avoiding additional visual distractions to motorists along high-speed expressways and busy arterial streets. Subsection C applies the section to both commercial and noncommercial off-premises signs.

Electronic message boards are not banned everywhere. Section 7-325.11(B) says permitted signs can include an electronically changing message except for the signs prohibited by § 7-325.13, and § 7-325.13(A)(2) allows a sign with a nonflashing electronically changing message while prohibiting flashing, blinking, twinkling, animated or moving signs. Those provisions govern on-premises signs; for a billboard, § 7-325.14(A)(6) is the stricter, specific rule.