Sanford, FL Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Sanford's Land Development Regulations Sign Code, Schedule K, defines a billboard as an off-premise outdoor advertising sign whose surface is sold, rented or leased to advertise businesses not located on the same premises, and states flatly that new billboards are prohibited within the City; billboards are separately listed among signs prohibited in every zoning district. On-premise digital signage is treated differently: electronic message boards, or EMBs, and changeable copy reader boards may be built into ground-mounted signs in non-residential districts, but the changeable copy portion cannot exceed 50 percent of the total sign face and must occupy a secondary position to the business or tenant name.

Content-wise, EMBs may display static images only; it is prohibited and unlawful for the display to blink, flash, move, scroll, animate, twirl, or otherwise move when the message changes. Update frequency is capped too: an EMB may change its copy or message only once each day, with no more than two messages allowed in any 24-hour period. Any sign holding an EMB also cannot sit closer than 100 feet to a residential zoning district, and illumination is separately capped for ground signs generally. Together the rules mean Sanford has no path to a true off-premise digital billboard, only a narrow, tightly time- and content-restricted on-premise digital message board.