Texas City, TX Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Movement rule
- No visible moving, revolving or rotating parts (§ 155.050)
- Electronic exception
- Apparent movement that changes every 15 seconds or less
- Flashing ban
- § 155.047, except as § 155.050 provides
- Word digital in sign chapter
- Not used
- Monument sign message boards
- Not more than 24 square feet of the sign face
- Off-premises sign size
- 672 square feet per side, 42.5 feet high
Summary
In Texas City, Texas, no sign can have visible moving, revolving or rotating parts or visible mechanical movement, except street clock hands and apparent visible movement achieved by electrical, electronic or mechanical means which changes every 15 seconds or less. The sign chapter never uses the word digital and prints no separate digital billboard section.
No sign shall have visible moving, revolving or rotating parts or visible mechanical movement of any kind, except for the movable hands on street clocks, or other apparent visible movement achieved by electrical, electronic or mechanical means, which changes every 15 seconds or less.
Full Breakdown
Texas City, Texas has no section titled for digital or electronic billboards, and the sign chapter, Chapter 155 of the Texas City Code of Ordinances, never uses the word digital. Three provisions do the work instead. Section 155.050 says no sign shall have visible moving, revolving or rotating parts or visible mechanical movement of any kind, except for the movable hands on street clocks, or other apparent visible movement achieved by electrical, electronic or mechanical means, which changes every 15 seconds or less. The 15-second figure sits inside that exception clause, and the chapter prints no separate minimum display time, brightness limit or message-count rule.
Section 155.047 is the companion ban on lights or illuminations that flash, move, scroll, rotate, scintillate, blink, flicker, vary in intensity or color or use intermittent electrical pulsations, except as provided in § 155.050. Section 155.046 adds the glare limit: no lights which glare into or upon the surrounding area or any residential premises or distract operators of vehicles or pedestrians on the public right-of-way.
Siting for off-premises signs is set by § 155.067: only within 100 feet of the right-of-way line of Interstate Highway 45, State Highway 3 and State Highway 146 south of Loop 197 North, FM 517 and a further state highway segment, in districts zoned E, E-2, E-3, E-4, F, F-1, G, H and S-P, up to 672 square feet per side and 42.5 feet in height, with 3,500 feet between signs on the same side of the highway.
The one place the chapter names electronic display is the monument sign definition in § 155.003: message boards and electronically displayed time and temperature cannot occupy more than 24 square feet of the sign face. Under § 155.020, a change of copy or message needs no permit, but any change of the sign face is considered a structural change.
Violations & Fines
Section 155.050 carries a penalty reference to § 155.999, which makes a violation a misdemeanor punished under § 10.99 by a fine not exceeding $500, or $2,000 where the case arises under the fire safety, zoning or public health and sanitation ordinances, with each day a separate offense. Under § 155.086 the Building Official gives written notice, and a sign not brought into compliance within ten calendar days can be removed or altered by the city at the owner's cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Texas City have a digital billboard ordinance?
What does the 15-second figure in the code mean?
Can an electronic time and temperature sign be used?
Do I need a permit to change the message on a sign?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Texas City
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Texas City to another location·View the Texas sign regulations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.