Wayne, NJ Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

The Township Council's billboard section, § 134-63.5 of Chapter 134, sets two size caps and one flat ban. Subsection A limits maximum height to 24 feet and subsection B limits maximum size to 672 square feet in area. Subsection F then states that electronic message centers and changeable copy signs for all or any portion of the billboard sign shall be prohibited. The prohibition reaches the entire face or any part of it, and it covers manually changed copy as well as electronic displays. The ban was amended 2-15-2012 by Ord. No. 6-2012.

The Township defines an electronic message center (EMC) as a variable message sign that uses a computer or other electronic controlled means, whether digital, analog, incandescent lamp, LCD, LED or other display technologies, to change and control a message displayed. The definition adds that an EMC does not refer to the internal or external illumination of the sign, so an ordinary lit billboard is a different thing from a digital one.

Elsewhere in the sign article the Township allows electronic displays in one narrow case. Section 134-68.1(J)(1) permits EMC signs only for displaying fuel prices at automobile service stations, and states that EMC signs shall not be permitted at any other type of establishment nor for any other type of message or advertisement. Those fuel price signs may not change until a fuel price changes, must stay static for a minimum of 24 hours, cannot flash, scroll or rotate, and cannot be animated, video or tri-vision signs. Brightness cannot exceed 0.2 foot-candles over ambient light within 150 feet, and the display must be turned off whenever the business is closed.

The same EMC prohibition is repeated for other uses: child care centers in § 134-63.3(G)(5) and places of worship and lodges in § 134-63.4(J)(5) also prohibit electronic message centers for all or any portion of the sign.