New Berlin, WI Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Electronic message centers, addressed in § 275-61 I(1)(g) of the sign standards for nonresidential zoning districts, are not a standalone sign type: an EMC can only be built into a ground or monument sign otherwise permitted under the chapter. The EMC portion counts toward the sign's total allowed area and cannot exceed 50% of that area, with a hard ceiling of 24 square feet regardless of how large the underlying monument or ground sign is. The changeable message must stay secondary in placement to the business or development name on the sign face.

Content is restricted to static images only: no blinking, flashing, moving, scrolling, twirling or animated messages are allowed, and a displayed image or line of text may change no more than once every eight seconds. Illumination is separately capped at 15 footcandles, measured with a light meter held perpendicular to the sign face at 24 inches. Placement is restricted by a residential buffer: an EMC-bearing sign cannot sit closer than 100 feet to a residentially zoned property, measured as the shortest straight-line distance from the sign face to the edge of the residential district, excluding right-of-way.

Audio speakers and any form of pyrotechnics attached to a sign are prohibited outright. The code also carves out a geographic exclusion: EMCs are not allowed anywhere within the Rural Commercial Area defined in the City's Comprehensive Plan, Chapter 12, regardless of zoning district. Any sign, including one with an EMC, first requires a sign permit from the Department of Community Development.