Tucson, AZ Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

c. They may only go up on undeveloped property zoned C-2, C-3, I-1 or I-2, within the general business or industrial zone categories, never in a residential zone, and never within 200 feet of a residential zone boundary line. Maximum face size is six feet by twelve feet, expanding to 378 square feet only within 250 feet of a freeway; maximum height is 16 feet generally and 35 feet near a freeway. No more than two faces per structure, and vertical or horizontal stacking of faces is banned outright.

Spacing is strict too: 660 feet minimum between any two billboards citywide, jumping to 1,980 feet if either sign sits within 250 feet of a freeway. c(10), 'Prohibited Sign Copy Display,' overrides every other sign standard to forbid billboards from changing their copy electronically or via rotating panels, meaning a true digital billboard, with scrolling or fading advertising panels, cannot legally exist in Tucson city limits. C lets ordinary digital signs change copy once every minute with no animation, but that allowance never applies to billboards, which the code singles out by name for the copy-change ban. Planning and Development Services Department staff review sign permit applications against these standards before a billboard can be erected on qualifying land.