Lacey, WA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

In the City of Lacey, Chapter 16.75 of the Lacey Municipal Code defines a billboard in § 16.75.020(C) as a sign that directs attention to a business, commodity, service, or entertainment conducted, sold, or offered at a location other than the premises on which the sign is located. Section 16.75.050(C)(4) then lists billboards among the prohibited signs. Section 16.75.050(A)(6) separately prohibits any commercial, advertising, or business sign that is not located on the premises of the business to which it refers.

A digital sign is defined in § 16.75.020(J) as a changeable copy sign that uses a matrix of illumination elements, such as LED, LCD, plasma display or individual light bulbs, to display copy that can be modified by electronic processes. Section 16.75.050(B)(2)(a) prohibits any digital sign except those associated with freestanding signs under § 16.75.080(A)(7).

That exception is narrow. Digital directory elements can use up to fifty percent of the allowed sign copy area. Changing message elements can use up to thirty-three percent, or up to fifty percent for a single-tenant sign. When both are on one sign they share a combined cap of sixty-seven percent. The technology must keep a ten-second minimum dwell time, with a simple fade of two seconds at most between images, and animation, movement or video imaging is prohibited. Automatic dimming is required. Brightness is capped at five thousand nits from sunrise to sunset and one hundred fifty nits from sunset to sunrise, both calculated for Lacey, WA. Light trespass is limited to one-tenth foot-candle at the property line of any park or residential property. Applicants must submit a program describing how the proposal meets these standards.

Legal nonconforming signs are the one carve-out from removal under § 16.75.050.