Portsmouth, VA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 40.2-307 of the Portsmouth zoning ordinance treats an electronic message display as "automatic changeable copy," defined as the capacity to display words, symbols, figures, or images that can be electronically changed by remote or automatic means. Under subsection (I)(6)(b), these signs are permitted in any zoning district, but not on any property containing a use listed under the Household Living or Group Living subcategories of the Residential Use category in the Use Table (Table 40.2-216). A digital sign on a house, apartment complex, or group home lot is therefore out, while a shop, church, or industrial lot elsewhere in the city can have one.\n\nThe operating standards in (I)(6)(c) are exact.

The display must stay static for no less than eight seconds before each change. A digital change must finish within 0.25 seconds, and a mechanical change within two seconds. No change may use animation, scrolling, or simulated movement, which also matches the citywide ban in (E)(7) on signs that include movement or animation. The device must be built to freeze on a static display if it malfunctions.\n\nBrightness is capped separately in (I)(5)(c): 1,500 nits during daylight hours and 150 nits at all other times. LED, charge coupling device, plasma, or equivalent displays must carry automatic dimming technology, and the manufacturer or a qualified professional must certify that the sign meets those luminance limits.

Illumination also must avoid glare on adjoining properties and any glare that interferes with traffic safety.\n\nA true billboard is a separate category. Portsmouth defines an outdoor advertising sign as a structure with display space for general advertising, and says these signs may carry LED displays that comply with state and federal law. Under (J)(3)(e) they are permitted only in the IL and IN districts after City Council approves a Use Permit under Sec. 40.2-533. Under (H)(2), a new sign, a replacement, or converting an existing billboard to an LED or automatic changeable copy display each requires that Use Permit. Changing sign faces on an existing sign is exempt from the Zoning Permit under (G)(1).