Rancho Cordova, CA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

150 creates a digital freeway signs overlay covering four specific geographies: the Sunrise Boulevard area between Highway 50 and Folsom Boulevard, the Hazel Avenue area along the same corridor, the mineshaft property between Folsom Boulevard and the Folsom South Canal, and the Bradshaw area near Business Park Drive and Fite Circle. Outside those four zones, digital freeway signs are prohibited outright, and even inside them a digital sign can only be permitted as the refurbishment of a legally existing billboard or as a relocated billboard, never as new construction on a vacant site.

A conditional use permit from the council is required before any digital freeway sign is approved. 150(C)(1) cap each sign at two digital display faces, each visible to only one direction of traffic and set no more than 45 degrees apart, a maximum height of 60 feet, and a maximum area of 672 square feet per face. No digital freeway sign may sit within 2,500 feet of another one anywhere in the city. Messages must be static, free of animation or flashing, and displayed for a minimum of 8 seconds before changing.

For every digital freeway sign installed, the applicant must permanently remove at least four legally existing billboard structures citywide, and the refurbished sign itself can count toward one of those four removals. The council may also negotiate a separate operating agreement letting an applicant deviate from these standards or the four-to-one removal ratio if it finds the deal delivers equivalent community benefits.