Hudson, NH Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Hudson's Zoning Ordinance treats electronic changing signs, also called electronic message centers or LED signs, as a component of a freestanding sign rather than a standalone billboard, so § 334-64C only allows one per lot and folds it into the same size cap as the freestanding sign it rides on. The electronic portion cannot exceed 50% of the freestanding sign's area or 50 square feet, whichever is smaller, and the display itself is limited to four lines of text with letters no taller than 10 inches.

Spacing matters too: § 334-64C(4) requires a minimum of 150 feet between electronic changing signs on the same side of a street, and the definitions built into the same subsection measure brightness in NITS, a unit equal to one candela per square meter. Under § 334-64C(10), every electronic changing sign must have automatic dimming controls so it runs brightest during the day and dimmest at night, with a hard ceiling of 8,000 NITS in daytime and a nighttime reading that cannot exceed 20% of the sign's own maximum brightness.

The applicant has to submit the manufacturer's specifications with the sign permit application proving those brightness numbers, and § 334-64C(11) requires the landowner, applicant and sign installer to sign a sworn affidavit that the sign meets every one of these standards and that they accept liability if it does not. Other clauses of the same subsection add further limits: the sign has to sit at least 200 feet from any residential dwelling, it can only run while the associated business is open, illumination has to hold steady for at least 15 minutes at a time, and message changes must fade on and off over no more than two seconds rather than jump-cut.