Walla Walla County, WA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

WWCC § 17.28.100 is the county's dedicated standard for digital billboards, styled 'electronic message center signs.' Size is capped at 'one double-faced electronic message sign... permitted per street frontage,' sized at 'one-half square foot per foot of street frontage, up to a maximum of one hundred fifty square feet per face.' Setbacks and sight-distance requirements must be met the same as any other sign. Where the sign sits adjacent to or across the street from a residential zone, it 'shall not operate between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.,' and it must be located on the same site as the use it advertises.

Message changes are throttled by road type: 'no more frequent than once every eight seconds when along major arterials and twenty seconds along all other roadways,' unless the director or hearing examiner specifies otherwise. The sign must carry a mechanism that 'automatically adjusts the brightness in response to ambient conditions' and a means to 'immediately turn off the display if it malfunctions,' with a manual override 'accessible to emergency responders.' Because a digital billboard is still a billboard, it is also confined to the zones §17.28.040 allows billboards in (industrial, primary agriculture, agriculture residential) and needs a building permit under § 17.28.070.

As a Title 17 zoning standard, an uncorrected violation follows a notice of violation and order under § 14.13.080, then a $250-per-day civil penalty under § 14.13.090, or a gross misdemeanor under § 14.13.100 (up to 90 days jail or a $1,000 fine) for willful refusal to correct.