Haverford, PA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Haverford Township closed the door on roadside billboards in 2015. The Board of Commissioners found that off-site advertising must be regulated and, in some forms, prohibited. It recorded testimony that billboards along West Chester Pike and Lancaster Pike would have to measure at least 672 square feet and be mounted at least 50 feet in the air to be safe, and noted that only 3% of the Township's land area is devoted to commercial usage (§ 182-701A(1)). The Code defines an off-site advertising sign as a sign directing attention to a business, commodity, service or entertainment conducted elsewhere than on the property where the sign sits, and states that it includes a billboard.

Section 182-701G(1) permits off-site advertising signs in all zoning districts only within a public right-of-way along the transit route of a public transportation entity, and only when incorporated into or on a bench or shelter at a designated stop. Such signs cannot be internally illuminated, cannot carry words such as stop, look, one-way, danger or yield, and cannot be posted within 300 feet of a historic resource identified in the 1994 Historic Resources Survey. The sign owner must indemnify the Township.

Subsection G(1)(e) controls illumination. A sign can be lit from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. Light sources cannot be visible from any street right-of-way or cause glare hazardous or distracting to pedestrians, vehicle drivers or adjacent properties. No more than 0.2 footcandle can be detectable at the boundary of any abutting property. Luminance is capped at 5,000 nits between sunrise and sunset and 250 nits at all other times. Signs need an automatic timer and a light-sensing device that adjusts brightness as ambient light changes, and the illumination must remain static in color and intensity. Separately, § 182-701B(7) bars animated signs other than time and temperature signs.