Sahuarita, AZ Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Where allowed by right
- Commercial and industrial zones
- Residential
- Needs Type 1 conditional use permit
- Area cap
- 50% of monument sign / 12 sq ft canopy
- Night dimming
- 50% max output after 11:00 p.m.
- Message change rate
- No more than once per 30 seconds
- Design rule
- Dark background required, no flashing
Summary
Sahuarita allows electronic message signs only as part of a monument or canopy sign in commercial and industrial zones under Town Code § 18.79.040(H). Residential zones need a Type 1 conditional use permit, and every display must dim automatically at night and hold each message for at least 30 seconds.
H. Electronic Messaging. 1. Electronic message signs are permitted as follows: a. Electronic message signs are permitted in commercial and industrial zones except for single-family residential uses. b. Electronic message signs in residential zones may be conditionally permitted subject to a Type 1 CUP per Chapter 18.97 STC. 2. Electronic message signs are permitted only as an integral component of a monument sign or canopy sign. 3. The electronic message sign shall be controlled by one or more photocells which will automatically adjust the display light output at sunset and will further adjust the display light output to a maximum of 50 percent of the allowed total at 11:00 p.m. ... 6. Electronic messages may not change any more frequently than once every 30 seconds, with an immediate transition time. 7. There may be no effects of movement, flashing, scintillation, or similar effects. 8. Electronic messages must have a dark background.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4745395; v0 updated 2025-12-08; through 12-08-2025).
Full Breakdown
040(H) governs digital and electronic message signs town-wide. 97 STC. Wherever they are allowed, an electronic message sign cannot stand alone: it must be built as an integral component of a monument sign or a canopy sign, and the electronic component is capped at 50 percent of a monument sign's total area or 12 square feet of a canopy sign, with the remaining area using permanently affixed letters or symbols. , and before the town issues a permit the sign manufacturer must certify in writing that the light intensity was factory preset to those limits and password-protected against end-user changes; the town may require a post-installation commissioning check.
Messages may not change more often than once every 30 seconds and the transition between messages must be immediate, with no flashing, scintillation, movement effects or animation, and every message must display against a dark background. When a development is entitled to more than one monument sign, only one of them may carry the electronic messaging component.
Violations & Fines
An electronic message sign installed without the required conditional use permit, exceeding the 50 percent (or 12-square-foot) area cap, skipping the sunset dimming photocell, or changing message more than once every 30 seconds is a civil infraction under STC § 18.95.030(E). The zoning administrator inspects and can order the sign brought into compliance or removed, and STC § 18.95.040 sets the maximum penalty at $750 for an individual or $10,000 for a corporation per offense, with each day a separate violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Sahuarita business install a digital billboard anywhere?
How often can an electronic sign change its message?
Does an electronic sign have to dim at night?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sahuarita
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