Pasadena, CA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

48 (Signs), draws a hard line against digital advertising. " Subsection C specifically prohibits electronic message signs, carving out only time and/or temperature displays that show no other advertising or message. Subsection O separately prohibits off-site outdoor advertising signs, the Code's term for billboards, again with no district exception. 120, there is no Sign Exception, Temporary Sign Permit, or Master Sign Plan route that can authorize either use; only a legislative amendment to the Zoning Code could open the door. 160: the City may remove any illegally placed sign, store it for 45 days, and bill removal and storage costs to the owner, who forfeits the sign and structure to the City if the bill goes unpaid, with unpaid costs becoming a tax lien on the property.

Historic signs are the chapter's only carve-out, and Table 4-23's removal deadlines for other nonconforming sign types confirm that lighting or movement violations, like an unauthorized digital message board, have been treated as immediately abatable rather than grandfathered. Property and business owners considering a digital display, whether wall-mounted, freestanding, or an off-site advertising structure serving another business, should assume the Planning & Community Development Department will reject the application outright rather than condition it.