Nash County, NC Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

5(A) of the UDO defines Type I advertising signs and billboards as those located so as to be visible primarily from federal aid primary roads, naming I-95, US 64, US 264 and US 301 specifically. These billboards max out at 35 feet in height, though the Board of Adjustment can grant a variance up to 50 feet on a site where unique conditions make the standard height impracticable. Separation from another billboard has to be at least 750 feet measured along the same side of the road, and 300 feet on a radius along an intersecting or adjacent road.

Maximum sign size is 672 square feet, capped at 14 feet in height and 48 feet in width; top-outs and side-outs are allowed on top of that footage but limited to a combined 32 square feet and can extend no more than two feet beyond the sign face. Every Type I sign has a minimum 5-foot setback from the road right-of-way and a 15-foot separation from other structures and side or rear property lines. Signs sited in nonresidential zoning districts have to meet the same separation standards.

S. ) that is stricter than, or added to, the county's own rule applies on top of the local standard. Table 11-1-6 limits Type I signs to the LI, GI, GC and RC zoning districts; they are not permitted in the A-1, residential, OI or PI districts.