Tangipahoa Parish, LA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Message change interval
- No more than once every 7 seconds
- Scrolling/flashing
- Prohibited; changes must be instantaneous
- Operating hours
- Continuous 24 hours permitted
- Location
- Properties bordering I-12 and I-55 only
- Nighttime brightness cap
- 500 nits (dusk to dawn)
Summary
Community landmark signs, the parish's digital billboard structures along I-12 and I-55, may run their electronic displays 24 hours a day but must change copy instantaneously, never scroll or flash, and hold each message for at least seven seconds.
(2)The operation of a community landmark sign display face shall be allowable for a continuous 24 hours. Architectural, hardscape and landscape lighting features of the community landmark sign may also operate for a continuous 24-hour period.(3)All message or copy change of the community landmark sign display face shall be instantaneous. Scrolling, fading, animated, flashing or moving messages or copy is prohibited. No display face shall change message or copy more than once every seven seconds.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 4, Division 4 creates a specific category called the community landmark sign, defined in Sec. 4-140 as an identifiable structure with internally illuminated display areas and communication technology used for municipal, civic, emergency, on-premises and off-premises messaging, and Sec. 4-141(d) confines these structures to properties bordering Interstate 12 and Interstate 55. Sec. 4-153, titled Operation, sets the rules for the electronic message displays themselves. Subsection (2) allows the display face, and the sign's architectural, hardscape and landscape lighting, to run continuously for 24 hours.
Subsection (3) then locks down how the message can change: all copy changes must be instantaneous, scrolling, fading, animated, flashing or moving messages or copy are prohibited outright, and no display face may change its message or copy more than once every seven seconds. Subsection (4) bars the display from advertising adult or sexually oriented businesses, hate speech, profanity or otherwise obscene content. These operating limits sit on top of the sign's physical caps in Sec. 4-142, up to 672 square feet per display face, a 60-foot height ceiling, and the lighting-intensity limits of Sec. 4-144(5), which cap nighttime brightness at 500 nits and daytime brightness at 7,500 nits and require ambient light sensors that automatically adjust illumination.
Violations & Fines
The office of the parish council is notified of division violations by registered letter under Sec. 4-147, and a community landmark sign display that scrolls, flashes or changes copy faster than every seven seconds is out of compliance with Sec. 4-153(3), subject to the parish's general penalty and correction requirements under the division's enforcement provisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast can a digital billboard change its message in unincorporated Tangipahoa Parish?
Can a digital billboard run all night in the parish?
Where are these digital community landmark signs allowed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tangipahoa Parish
Compare Tangipahoa Parish to another location·View the Louisiana sign regulations overview
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