Roanoke, VA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Max readerboard area
- 40% of total sign area
- District size cap
- 25 sq ft in CN, D, IN, UC, CG
- Minimum static hold
- 6 seconds before copy changes
- Brightness cap
- 0.3 footcandle over ambient at measured distance
- Dimming
- Ambient-light sensor required
- Governing section
- Roanoke Zoning Code § 36.2-669
Summary
Roanoke caps electronic readerboard signs at 40 percent of the total sign area they're attached to, limits them to 25 square feet in CN, D, IN, UC, and CG districts, requires each display to hold static for at least six seconds, and caps night-time brightness at 0.3 footcandles over ambient light under Section 36.2-669.
(b)Electronic readerboard signs shall be subject to these requirements:(1)The electronic readerboard shall abut or connect with a static sign face.(2)The electronic readerboard portion of the sign shall constitute no more than forty (40) percent of the total sign area of which it is an integral part.(3)An electronic readerboard in a CN, D, IN, UC, or CG District shall not exceed twenty-five (25) square feet in sign area.(4)The frequency of change of copy shall be established so that each display of copy remains static with no animation for at least six (6) seconds before changing to new copy.(5)An electronic readerboard shall be controlled so that the night-time illumination level does not exceed three-tenths (0.3) footcandles over ambient light, measured at a specified distance from the sign face.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 94 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
2-669 governs both changeable copy signs and electronic readerboard signs, which the definitions section describes as computer-generated signs displaying messages that can be changed or altered on a fixed screen through electrically illuminated segments (a static electronic gas-price display does not count). Subsection (a) requires changeable copy signs to abut or connect with a static sign face, with the changeable portion capped at 80 percent of the overall sign. 3) of a footcandle over ambient light, measured at a distance calculated by multiplying the sign's square footage by 100 and taking the square root of that product in feet.
To hit that brightness cap, every electronic readerboard must carry a sensor that reads ambient light and dims the display automatically. 2-675 in addition to these readerboard standards.
Violations & Fines
Running an electronic readerboard that exceeds 40 percent of its sign's total area, tops 25 square feet in the CN, D, IN, UC, or CG Districts, changes copy faster than the required six-second static hold, or exceeds 0.3 footcandles of night-time brightness over ambient light violates Section 36.2-669 and is enforced under Section 36.2-571 as a zoning misdemeanor, with the Zoning Administrator able to order the sign brought into compliance or removed.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Roanoke
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