Novi, MI Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Novi treats digital or LED changeable-copy displays as a subcategory of sign regulated throughout Chapter 28 rather than as a separate use. Section 28-5(g) permits changeable copy signs only as nonresidential ground signs, never in the RA, R-1 through R-4, RT, RM-1, RM-2, or MH residential districts except for nonresidential uses allowed there, and limits the changeable portion to two-thirds of the total sign area, with the rest permanently fixed. The electronic portion must display a legible message or be left blank, must automatically dim and follow the city's lighting ordinance, and any malfunctioning unit must be turned off or programmed to go dark rather than flash erratically; illumination is also capped at 0.5 footcandles measured at the property line.

The images shown must be static, and the switch from one static image to the next has to be instantaneous with no fades, wipes, or other special effects; a sign that changes its message more than four times a minute, faster than once every 15 seconds, is reclassified as a prohibited animated sign under Section 28-10(b)(4). Changeable copy signs also cannot sit within 150 feet of a residential use. Digital messaging on a highway sign in the I-96 or M-5 corridor zones under Section 28-8 faces the same static-transition rule plus an outright ban on any variation in light intensity, blinking, scrolling, rotating, sparkling, or other simulated-movement effects, and on wind-actuated elements, and must additionally comply with any Michigan Department of Transportation rules for digital sign placement along those state routes. Ground pole highway signs are permitted to be two-sided and to carry changeable copy under Section 28-8(a)(5).