Tracy, CA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Article 35 defines a billboard as a large, non-digital, off-site freestanding advertising sign, typically 10 by 25 feet up to 14 by 48 feet, located along a freeway, highway or major street (section 10.08.4440). Section 10.08.4490(m) flatly prohibits any sign serving as a billboard anywhere in the city, and subsection (i) separately bans any sign that flashes, blinks, moves, changes color, appears to change color, changes intensity, or contains any part of an attachment which does the same, except as allowed under section 10.08.4500(e).

The one place Tracy permits an electronic display along a freeway is the digital freeway sign, defined in section 10.08.4440 as a sign visible from a freeway with a static message formed by selective internal illumination that can be changed electronically. Section 10.08.4500(b) sets the standards: locations follow the I-205 Corridor Specific Plan; maximum height is 15 feet measured from the crown of the nearest freeway, or 45 feet, whichever is less; maximum area is 300 square feet; up to two digital display faces are allowed, each facing an opposing direction of travel; and the display can change no more often than every 8 seconds, with each message required to be static, not moving or animated. No standard sign permit is issued; a digital freeway sign instead requires a conditional use permit, and the sign must also comply with the state Outdoor Advertising Act, Business and Professions Code section 5200 et seq., which controls if it conflicts with the municipal code.