Tempe, AZ Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Freestanding changeable-copy signs
- banned except Types C, E, F, I
- Flashing/animated illumination
- banned except Types C, F
- Type F changeable-copy sign area
- 24-40 sq ft depending on lot size
- Unauthorized sign removal hold
- 30 days before disposal
- Enforcing department
- Community Development Department
Summary
Tempe prohibits freestanding changeable-copy signs and flashing, animated, or intermittently illuminated signs citywide, except for the narrow list of permitted sign types spelled out in the sign code's table of permitted signs.
B.Prohibited Signs. Prohibited signs include:...4.Signs having intermittent or flashing illumination, animated or moving parts, or that emit sound except as allowed under Section 4-903 (sign type C and F);5.Freestanding changeable copy signs, except as allowed under Section 4-903 (sign type C, E, F, and I);
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: City Code: Supplement 33 Update 4 | Zoning and Development Code: Supplement 11 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Section 4-902(B) of the Zoning and Development Code, Chapter 9 (Signs), lists prohibited signs, and two of those bans cover digital and electronic billboard-style displays. Subsection (B)(4) prohibits signs with intermittent or flashing illumination, animated or moving parts, or that emit sound, except as allowed for Sign Types C and F under Section 4-903. Subsection (B)(5) separately bans freestanding changeable-copy signs outright, except as allowed for Sign Types C, E, F, and I. Cross-referencing the Section 4-903 table narrows where a digital or changeable-copy display can actually go: Type F covers changeable-copy signs on a theater, museum, service station, or place of worship, capped at 24 square feet and 8 feet tall on parcels under 5 acres, or 40 square feet and 10 feet tall on larger parcels, with a monument-style masonry base required.
Type C, a freestanding sign within 5 feet of a drive-through, may be illuminated and may transmit sound tied to a transaction under City Code 20-11. Type E, the freeway-frontage sign, and Type I, service-station canopy or pump signage, round out the exceptions. Outside those four categories, no freestanding digital or electronic-message sign is permitted anywhere in Tempe.
Violations & Fines
A freestanding digital or changeable-copy sign installed outside Sign Types C, E, F, or I is a prohibited sign under Section 4-902(B)(5) and is treated as an unauthorized sign under Section 4-902(C). City staff can remove it, hold it 30 days with notice to the identified business, and dispose of it if unclaimed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Tempe business put up a digital LED sign?
Are flashing or animated signs legal in Tempe?
What happens if I install a prohibited digital sign in Tempe?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tempe
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