Youngstown, OH Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)

Section 1105.08(c) of the Youngstown Codified Ordinances regulates electronic message centers and off-premise digital signs. Each message must have a dwell time of at least ten seconds between changes, and the transition itself must take one second or less. The sign must include a default mechanism that freezes it in one position if it malfunctions, and it cannot display light of an intensity or brilliance that causes glare or impairs a driver's vision. The code defines 'excessive intensity or brilliance' by color and time of day: full-color displays are capped at 7,000 nits in daytime and 2,500 nits at night, with lower ceilings for single-color red, green, or amber displays.

Before a permit issues, the applicant must submit written certification from the sign manufacturer that the intensity is factory pre-set not to exceed 7,000 nits and is protected from end-user manipulation by password-protected software or another method approved by the Building Inspector or Zoning Specialist. Digital signs cannot be configured to resemble a warning or danger signal. Because electronic message centers increase driver distraction, an operator must remove four times the surface area of the proposed digital sign in existing static billboards before installing it, and only one digital sign face is allowed per structure. Size and location follow the same standards set for billboards generally in Section 1105.08.