Colusa County, CA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Colusa County treats electronic message signs as a subset of the permitted sign types under Article 44-3, Division 44-3.50 (Sign Standards). Section 44-3.50.070(D)(4), part of the General Standards that apply to permitted signs, allows an 'electronic changeable display' on wall, off-site, pole, and monument signs, but restricts it to the commercial, industrial, and agricultural zoning classifications; residential zones cannot host one at all.

The standards are specific. A digital sign's edge must sit at least 150 feet from any residential zone and cannot be visible from a residential zone. It must also keep at least 150 feet of separation from any other electronic changeable copy sign, which spaces out competing displays along a commercial corridor. Content that includes graphics cannot change or move more often than every 30 seconds; a text-only display gets a faster allowance of once every 10 seconds. Whatever the content, no more than 10 words can show at one time, which keeps a passing driver from having to read a paragraph off a moving sign.

Two further conditions apply. Illumination on the sign has to follow the county's separate outdoor lighting standards in Section 44-3.30, and any sign that displays graphics must carry an automatic dimmer that steps illumination down between a half-hour before sunset and a half-hour after sunrise, so brightness does not spike after dark. Because electronic changeable displays sit under Section 44-3.50.080 (Signs Allowed with a Permit), installing one requires Zoning Administrator approval of an Administrative Permit under Section 44-3.50.050, including a site plan and scale drawing of the sign.