Yakima, WA Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- Maximum size
- 50% of Table 8-2 area, never over 50 sq ft
- Density limit
- one digital sign per 100 feet of street frontage
- Allowed zones
- nonresidential districts only, none in residential zones
- Brightness cap
- 0.3 footcandle difference, EMC measurement, auto-dim required
- Message hold time
- minimum eight seconds between message changes
- Civil penalty
- $50 per day until violation is corrected
Summary
Yakima caps electronic message signs at fifty percent of the area a property's freestanding sign is otherwise allowed, and never more than fifty square feet, under Yakima Municipal Code § 15.08.135. Only one digital sign is permitted per one hundred feet of street frontage, and digital signs are barred from residential zones citywide.
A. Maximum Size. The maximum size of a digital sign is fifty percent of the total area of the sign permitted by Table 8-2, and no greater than fifty square feet. B. Density. There may be one digital sign per one hundred feet of street frontage. C. Zoning. Digital signs are allowed only in nonresidential zones. D. EMC Illumination Limits. The difference between the off- and solid-message measurements using the EMC measurement criteria shall not exceed 0.3 footcandles at night. E. Digital signs may have no motions other than the change of the message. F. The minimum hold between messages is eight seconds. G. Dimming Capabilities. All permitted EMCs shall be equipped with a sensor or other device that automatically determines the ambient illumination and be programmed to automatically dim according to ambient light conditions, or that can be adjusted to comply with the 0.3 footcandle measurements.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4980636; v1 updated 2026-08-03; through 08-03-2026).
Full Breakdown
135. The maximum size is fifty percent of the total sign area a lot is otherwise allowed under the code's freestanding-sign table, but never more than fifty square feet regardless of frontage or zone. Density is capped at one digital sign per one hundred feet of street frontage, and the ordinance confines digital signs to nonresidential zoning districts only; no digital sign is permitted in a residential district anywhere in the Yakima urban area. 3-footcandle ceiling. Digital signs may show no motion beyond the change of the message itself, so scrolling, flashing, or video effects are barred, and each message must hold for a minimum of eight seconds before the next one displays.
Because Table 8-2, which sets the base freestanding-sign area a parcel earns before the fifty-percent digital cap applies, is published as a separate attachment to Title 15 rather than in the code text itself, an applicant needs that attachment from the city's planning division to calculate its own maximum digital-sign square footage.
Violations & Fines
Sign violations fall under Title 15's general enforcement chapter, YMC § 15.25. A first violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to five hundred dollars, up to ninety days in jail, or both; an offender with no prior conviction and only one violation is fined only, capped at five hundred dollars. A separate civil penalty of fifty dollars per day accrues from the correction deadline set by the building and enforcement official until the sign is brought into compliance, and the city may record a lien against the property to collect it.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yakima
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