Tamarac, FL Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Tamarac's Land Development Code treats digital billboards as a subtype of the billboard signs allowed under LDC § 10-4.10(D)(4)(a), which the city permits only on city-owned property or public right-of-way adjacent to what the Code calls a 'major expressway,' defined as SR 869/Sawgrass Expressway and the Florida Turnpike. Any billboard, digital or static, needs special exception approval under LDC § 10-5.4(G) before Community Development will issue a permit, and every application also needs a copy of the applicant's Florida Department of Transportation and Broward County permits.

Subsection G, Illumination and Animated Messages, sets the operating rules for a digital face. No auditory message, smoke, or mechanical sound may come from the sign, and the display itself cannot move, appear to move, blink, fade, roll, dissolve, flash, zoom, scroll, or show animated movement, or change intensity during the static display period; every billboard must carry an ambient light monitor that automatically dims or brightens the sign to match outdoor light levels at all times. Message changes must be instantaneous rather than a fade or wipe transition.

If a digital billboard malfunctions or otherwise stops running its normal programmed content, the LDC requires it to go to a black screen immediately, and the owner has 24 hours to restore normal, code-compliant operation. The Code also bars any sign using the words 'stop' or 'danger,' or a flashing red, green, blue, or amber light that could be mistaken for a police or caution light. Billboards over 1,500 feet from residential property may carry a second face; closer ones are limited to one face aimed at the expressway.