Roseville, MN Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 1010.10 applies to any sign using a dynamic display, in whole or in part. Section 1010.02 defines a dynamic display as any characteristic of a sign that appears to have movement or to change, including LED lights manipulated through digital input and digital ink. Duration comes first: in all districts the full sign image or any portion must hold for a minimum of 12 seconds as a static display, with no flashing, scrolling, twirling or color change. Transitions must use instantaneous repixelization, and fading, dissolving, scrolling or traveling is prohibited.

Brightness is capped at 6,500 nits (candelas per square meter) during daylight hours and 500 nits between dusk to dawn, measured from the sign face at maximum brightness. Electronic graphic display signs need an automatic dimmer control to step from a higher to a lower level between one half-hour before sunset and one half-hour after sunrise. Each display must freeze in one position if it malfunctions and have a means to immediately discontinue the display. Paragraphs (6) and (7) bar fluctuating, strobe or moving light and video-style motion or pictorial imagery.

Billboards are the narrow case: section 1010.03(c)(8) prohibits new billboards, and section 1010.10(8) lets only the five lawful pre-existing nonconforming billboards convert, under a permit, a design and operation agreement with the city, and no less than 20 hours per month per display for community and public service messages. The Community Development Department takes the permit application.