Mason County, WA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 17.03.202 of the Mason County Code lists signs prohibited throughout the rural areas of the county and the Shelton urban growth area, adopted by Ordinance No. 134-08 on December 16, 2008. Subsection E generally bars animated or flashing signs, which would otherwise include electronic message center and digital billboard displays, because such signs can be confused with traffic control devices or distract drivers under the broader intent standard in § 17.03.200. The subsection then permits one specific exception: a changing message center sign qualifies if the image or message remains fixed for at least five seconds, and the only motion allowed is the transition from one message or image to the next by scrolling on or off.

A digital sign that changes faster than every five seconds, or that uses fading, wiping, sliding or other transition effects beyond straight scrolling, falls back into the general animated-sign ban. The same section separately prohibits roof signs, banners over county roads, signs in the right-of-way without a road-use permit, and signs on utility poles or trees, all of which apply alongside the five-second rule to any digital sign proposal. Nonconforming signs erected before December 16, 2008 could continue for up to twenty years under § 17.03.203 if continuously maintained and not relocated or structurally altered.