Minnetonka, MN Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Minnetonka City Code § 325.05 treats a billboard as a principal use of property, and subdivision 9 adds that no permitted or conditionally permitted use can share the parcel with the sign and the parcel cannot be subdivided to separate the sign from the remaining property. Permanent off-premises signs are prohibited in every district under subdivision 2(h), and the Minnetonka City Council states in subdivision 10(c) that outdoor advertising signs are no longer allowed in the city.

The only route to a digital face is the enhanced dynamic display permit in subdivision 10(c). The applicant must agree in writing to permanently remove, within 15 days after issuance, at least two other outdoor advertising faces owned or leased by the applicant, including the structure and foundation, and must post a cash deposit or letter of credit acceptable to the city attorney to cover the city's removal costs. Each removed face must have a copy and graphic area of at least 288 square feet and meet two or more criteria: location next to a highway with more than two regular lanes and a general speed limit of 45 miles per hour or greater without interstate-type access restrictions; a structure built before 1975 and not substantially improved; location in a noncommercial zoning district; location in a special planning area designated in the 1999 comprehensive plan; or removed area equal to or greater than the area sought. A state permit on a removed face must be surrendered before the new display can operate, and the applicant must agree that no dynamic displays will ever be used on one additional outdoor advertising sign of at least 288 square feet.

Once granted, the permit allows a dynamic display to occupy 100 percent of the potential copy and graphic area. Ordinary on-premises dynamic displays are held to tighter limits: monument and pylon signs only, no more than 50 percent of the copy area, and no change more often than once every 20 minutes. Every sign installed after June 25, 2007 with non-natural illumination needs an automatic brightness adjustment mechanism and an immediate shut-off.