Sun Prairie, WI Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Program
- Digital replacement of legal nonconforming billboards
- Approval
- Conditional use permit, Sec. 17.44.050
- Max area
- Up to 1.5x removed sign, state cap applies
- Setback
- 15 ft minimum from right-of-way
- Brightness cap
- 0.3 footcandles above ambient light
Summary
Sun Prairie does not allow new billboards outright, but Section 17.40.080(C)(1) lets the owner of a legal nonconforming billboard swap it for a digital sign through a conditional use permit, capped by state law and hedged with brightness, setback and design conditions.
1.Billboard Replacement Program. An owner of a legally nonconforming billboard sign existing upon the effective date of this chapter may apply for a conditional use permit to replace an existing billboard sign with a digital billboard sign within the following parameters:a.The sign shall comply with the standards contained in Section 84.30(4), Wisconsin Statutes.b.The area of the digital billboard sign may be equal to or less than the billboard(s) being replaced. ... In any instance, the total area of the digital billboard sign shall not exceed the maximum allowable area established in Section 84.30(4), Wisconsin Statutes. ... c.No portion of the digital billboard shall be located closer to the public road right-of-way than the sign it is replacing, nor shall it be located within fifteen (15) feet of any public road right-of-way as calculated by the shortest measurable distance between the nearest point of the sign to the edge of the right-of-way.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 71).
Full Breakdown
050 to swap it for a digital billboard. The replacement sign's area is capped at the size of the billboard(s) removed, though multiple removed billboards can be combined, and the city can approve up to one and one-half times the removed area if the applicant meets added design standards, including a monopole support with a decorative base, landscaping or masonry at the base, and making the display available for periodic public-interest messages as a community benefit. 30(4). Placement is tightly constrained: the new digital sign cannot sit any closer to the public road right-of-way than the billboard it replaces, and it can never come within fifteen feet of that right-of-way, measured from the sign's nearest point.
3 footcandles above ambient light, tested with a footcandle meter at set distances keyed to sign-face size, from 150 feet for a 300 to 375 square foot face up to 250 feet for a 476 to 672 square foot face. 050.
Violations & Fines
A digital billboard erected outside this conditional use process, or one that exceeds the approved brightness, size or setback conditions, is an unpermitted off-premises sign under the Section 17.40.080 ban. Because approval runs through the conditional-use procedure in Section 17.44.050, noncompliance puts the permit itself at risk, and the city can revisit the conditional use rather than allow the sign to remain as approved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a new billboard be built in Sun Prairie?
How big can a replacement digital billboard be?
How close to the road can a digital billboard sit?
Is there a brightness limit on digital billboards?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sun Prairie
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Digital Billboards in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Dane County handle digital billboards.