Hoover, AL Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

02 allows an electronic message sign (EMS) only as part of an on-premise freestanding sign that already conforms to Article 12, and only "in the C-2 community business district and in the C-3 General Business District," capped at "a maximum of one EMS per facing street" per premises. The EMS face isn't extra signage: its area "shall be included as part of the permitted sign face area of the freestanding sign," and Table 12-4 caps how much of that area the EMS may use, from 16 square feet on a sign under 100 square feet up to 32 square feet on a sign 120 square feet or larger.

C, held for at least one hour, with transitions capped at one second and no flashing, racing, strobing, twinkling or animation allowed. Every EMS needs automatic dimming, by photocell or software, so nighttime luminance never exceeds 750 candelas per square meter measured 25 feet from the sign's base, starting a half hour before NOAA's apparent sunset and lasting until apparent sunrise. G, and converting an existing sign to an EMS requires a new sign permit. Exposed neon or fiber-optic tubing on an EMS is prohibited.

04 prohibits "off-premise billboards and signs which direct attention to a business commodity, service, entertainment or attraction sold, offered, or existing elsewhere than upon the same property upon which such sign is displayed," so a true digital billboard advertising another business has no path to approval anywhere in Hoover.