Parma, OH Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Setback from residential
- 200 feet minimum
- Spacing between billboards
- 500 feet, same road side
- Display standard
- Must meet EMC rules, Section 1196.13(c)
- Placement
- Behind building lines only
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor of the first degree
Summary
Parma allows digital billboards as free-standing or wall signs with automatic changeable copy, but only behind building lines, at least 200 feet from any residential district, and 500 feet from the next billboard on the same side of the road.
(b) Billboards.
(1) Sign types. Billboards shall be permitted as either free-standing or wall signs and may be equipped with Tri-Vision or other similar automatic changeable copy, including electronic digital displays. No other sign shall be displayed on the side of a building which includes a wall displaying a billboard.
(2) Location. Billboards shall be located behind the building lines of the lots on which they are located. In addition, billboards exceeding two square feet in area shall be located a minimum distance of twenty-five feet measured in any direction from the point of intersection of the street lines of two intersecting streets. No billboard shall be located less than 200 feet from a residential zoning district.
(3) Spacing. The minimum distance permitted between billboards located on one side of a road shall be 500 feet.
(4) Digital billboards shall conform to the display standards for electronic message center signs set forth in division (c) of this section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-30: Local legislation current to August 3, 2026 | State legislation current to June 25, 2025).
Full Breakdown
13(b) governs billboards, including digital ones. Billboards may be free-standing or wall signs and may use Tri-Vision or other automatic changeable copy, including electronic digital displays, but no other sign may be displayed on a building wall that already carries a billboard. Billboards must sit behind the building lines of their lot; any billboard exceeding two square feet must be at least twenty-five feet from the intersection point of two crossing streets, and no billboard may be located within 200 feet of a residential zoning district.
Billboards on the same side of a road must be spaced at least 500 feet apart. 13(c), meaning they inherit the automatic brightness controls, luminance caps and eight-second minimum display time that govern EMCs. 12(b) reinforces this by prohibiting flashing, scrolling or moving-effect signage citywide except for EMCs and digital billboards specifically permitted under those two subsections. 08(a)'s schedule further caps billboards at one per lot, 300 square feet in area and 25 feet in height, and bars them entirely from Industrial Park zoning.
Violations & Fines
Billboard and digital billboard violations fall under the general sign chapter penalty at Section 1196.99: whoever violates any provision of Chapter 1196 is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, with each day a violation continues or occurs treated as a separate offense. The Building Commissioner can also order removal of a noncompliant or abandoned sign under Section 1196.15(a); if the owner does not comply within forty-eight hours of notice, the City may remove it and bill the owner for the expense.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Parma
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