Sullivan County, TN Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 9-109 of the Zoning Resolution lets a business or a place of community assembly, meaning a church, community center, church fellowship hall, school, or fire department or other emergency-responder facility, add one electronic message board to its single permitted freestanding sign, but only in the B-3, B-4, PBD, or PBD-3 zoning districts. The board is not an extra sign; it has to be part of, or in lieu of, the site's one allowed freestanding sign, and the electronic portion cannot exceed 50 percent of that sign's total face under Section 9-109.2.1.

To qualify, the parcel needs at least 100 feet of publicly maintained frontage on an arterial or major collector road under the county's Major Thoroughfare Plan, per Section 9-109.2. Every board must carry an automatic dimmer and stay under 4,000 nits between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., dropping to 1,000 nits from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., under Section 9-109.4. The rules bar video or animation of any kind, scrolling or flashing text, and any display of less than five seconds, with message changes required to snap instantly rather than fade, under Sections 9-109.7 through 9-109.9.

Boards cannot be used for off-premises advertising, cannot be installed within a historic district or conservation overlay zone (H-1, H-2, or CV1-6) under Section 9-109.10, and cannot be shaped or lit to resemble a traffic-control or warning signal under Section 9-109.12. The Building Official checks that a board does not interfere with nearby traffic signals.