Plymouth, MN Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)
Key Facts
- Required frontage
- Interstate 494 or State Highway 169
- Max dimensions
- 14 ft high by 50 ft wide
- Max structure height
- 70 feet from grade
- Spacing between dynamic billboards
- 5,280 feet minimum
- Spacing from a static billboard
- 1,320 feet minimum
- Replacement requirement
- 2 existing static billboards retired
- Earliest permit date
- March 9, 2021
Summary
In the City of Plymouth, a new electronic dynamic-display billboard can go up only on a parcel with frontage on Interstate 494 or State Highway 169 that already carries a static billboard, and the applicant must retire that billboard plus one other static billboard it owns elsewhere in Plymouth. Freestanding signs generally cap at 36 feet, but dynamic billboards are exempted from that limit and instead face their own 70-foot cap under City Code Section 21155.06.
(d)Dynamic Display Billboards. ... No new dynamic display billboard shall be erected within the City unless a permit has been issued for such installation on or after March 9, 2021. Dynamic display billboards erected on or after March 9, 2021, may be permitted, subject to the following:(1)The property where the dynamic display billboard is proposed shall have frontage abutting either Interstate 494 or State Highway 169.(2)The property shall have an existing static billboard.(3)The proposed dynamic display billboard shall not exceed dimensions of 14 feet high by 50 feet wide.(4)The proposed dynamic display billboard shall not exceed a height of 70 feet from grade. ... (7)The minimum distance between dynamic display billboards shall be 5,280 feet as measured on either side of the roadway, and the minimum distance between a dynamic display billboard and an existing static billboard shall be 1,320 feet as measured on the same side of the roadway.
Full Breakdown
06, Subd. 1(d) bars any new dynamic display billboard citywide unless a permit issued on or after March 9, 2021 authorizes it, and ties approval to a tight set of conditions. The property must have frontage abutting either I-494 or Highway 169, must already host a static billboard, and the new dynamic sign cannot exceed 14 feet high by 50 feet wide or a total structure height of 70 feet from grade. Only one billboard structure, static or dynamic, is allowed per property, and it may carry up to two faces.
Spacing rules keep the signs from clustering along the freeway corridor: dynamic billboards must sit at least 5,280 feet apart on either side of the roadway, and at least 1,320 feet from any remaining static billboard on the same side. Every new dynamic billboard must also replace two existing static billboards: the one on its own site, plus a second static billboard elsewhere in the City of Plymouth that the applicant owns or leases. 5 degrees off the sign face lose over 90 percent of forward brightness, and it must meet Minnesota Department of Transportation standards and permitting. m. 07.
Violations & Fines
The Zoning Administrator enforces Plymouth's sign rules under Section 21155.07, with authority to order removal in writing of any noncompliant sign and to impound signs placed on public property or right-of-way, holding them five days before discarding unclaimed signs. Continued violations are prosecuted under the City Code's general misdemeanor penalty. A dynamic billboard that malfunctions or fails to freeze on one static message when notified by the City must immediately stop its display or face compliance action.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put an electronic billboard on any Plymouth road?
How tall can a Plymouth freeway billboard be?
Does approving one new digital billboard remove an old one?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Plymouth
Compare Plymouth to another location·View the Minnesota sign regulations overview
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Freeway-Facing Signs in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Hennepin County handle freeway-facing signs.