New Bedford, MA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 3228, adopted under the City's 2011 sign ordinance amendment, flatly prohibits the construction of new off-premise signs, defined to include billboards, electronic signs, digital billboards, Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS), and any sign with a Dynamic Display. The City may not issue permits for their construction or relocation anywhere within New Bedford, a blanket citywide prohibition rather than a district-by-district restriction. Section 3227 defines these terms precisely: a Digital Sign or Digital Billboard displays messages electronically through LED, LCD or similar technology; a Dynamic Display is any sign component that appears to move or change without physically swapping the sign face, including rotating panels and digital ink; and a CEVMS is an off-premise, self-luminous advertising sign using LED, LCD, OLED, plasma or similar media to show anything from static images to full-motion video, also called an Electronic or Digital Billboard.

The prohibition reaches beyond new construction. It expressly bars converting, reconstructing, enhancing or upgrading an existing off-premise sign into an off-premise Dynamic Display Sign, Electronic Sign or CEVMS, closing the door on retrofitting a legacy static billboard with digital technology. Separately, Section 3222 bans any sign incorporating moving, flashing, animated or intermittent lighting citywide, on-premise or off, except for public service signs displaying time and temperature, which reinforces that digital messaging is disfavored even for on-site business signage, not just billboards.

Any sign or its supporting frame or mounting device that the Inspector of Buildings deems abandoned must be removed by the owner once the associated business or activity ceases, under the general sign provisions preceding Section 3220.