Digital signage is the most regulated thing you can put on a building here, and the rule that stops most projects is not about the screen at all.
The LED sign rules in Colorado Springs got a full rewrite in February 2026 along with the rest of the sign code. If you are researching a changeable message sign for a church, a school, a dealership, or a retail center, the current limits are tighter and more specific than what older articles describe.
Here is what the code actually says, section by section, plus the practical consequences that decide whether an EMC makes sense for your property. This is general information rather than legal advice, and the city is the final authority on any specific site.
What Counts as an EMC
The definition matters, because plenty of illuminated signage is not an electronic message center and is not subject to any of this.
A sign component that displays changeable digital messages. Subject to the full set of limits in this guide, including hold time, brightness, size, and quantity.
LEDs inside each letter lighting a static face. Not an EMC. Governed by the ordinary wall sign rules on area and placement.
Digital or LED elements that do not change messages count against the sign area allowance and are not treated as EMCs.
Flashing lights, varying intensity lighting, rotating or pulsating lights, searchlights, projected imagery, and digital messages that change other than as permitted.
So a business that wants a lit sign, not a changing sign, avoids this entire framework. That distinction is worth confirming early, because the two products have completely different permitting paths and price points. Static illuminated work is covered in channel letter sign costs.
One more prohibition worth naming here: electronic message centers on vehicles are not allowed. A wrapped van is a minor sign type needing no permit, and adding a changing digital display to it takes it out of that category entirely.
Permit and Letter of Compliance
An EMC requires a sign permit like any major sign type, plus one document nothing else requires.
The application must include an executed letter of compliance for the electronic message center. Separately, documentation is required from the sign manufacturer verifying that the unit complies with the automatic dimming and brightness requirements. In other words, the city wants a commitment from you and a specification from the manufacturer, on paper, before it approves anything.
Ask any EMC supplier whether they can provide manufacturer documentation verifying auto dimming and the 500 nit limit. A supplier who cannot produce that paperwork has sold you a unit you may not be able to permit, and the paperwork is much harder to obtain after the purchase than before.
The rest of the standard application requirements still apply: the project statement identifying all existing and proposed signage on the parcel, a construction plan, owner authorization, and the review criteria covering lighting, sight visibility, and off-site impacts. Full application detail is in Colorado Springs sign permits after Ordinance 26-01.
Size Limits
| Placement | Maximum EMC area | Practical effect |
|---|---|---|
| On a freestanding sign | 50% of the permitted sign area | Half the sign stays static identification |
| On a wall sign | Lesser of 32 sq ft or the maximum allowable area | A hard ceiling regardless of building size |
The freestanding limit is proportional, so it scales with what your frontage already earns. The wall limit is absolute: 32 square feet is roughly a 4 by 8 foot display, and no amount of building elevation increases it.
Worth working through the arithmetic before falling for a product. If a property's freestanding sign is permitted at 42 square feet, the EMC portion cannot exceed 21 square feet, and the remaining area still has to do the job of identifying the business. A display sized for a highway will not fit a sign sized for a 120 foot frontage.
Freestanding sign allowances themselves come from lot frontage, covered in our sign permit guide.
One Per Property, Never Standalone
Three quantity rules that shape site planning:
- One EMC per property. Not one per tenant, not one per street frontage. One.
- Not a standalone sign. An EMC must be integrated into a major sign rather than existing on its own. You cannot install a digital display by itself and call it signage.
- Not both wall and freestanding. A property cannot have an EMC wall sign and an EMC freestanding sign. Pick one placement.
For a multi-tenant center this is the provision that generates the most difficult conversations. The single EMC belongs to the property, which means the landlord decides who appears on it and how often, and that arrangement belongs in writing before anyone spends money.
Where a sign is shared between parties, the permit application requires an agreement covering ownership and management of the signage plus the property owner's approval. On an EMC serving multiple tenants, that agreement is doing real work, since it governs message rotation for years.
Hold Time and Transitions
The animation rules are where digital signage salespeople and the code disagree most sharply.
- Static messages only. No motion, no video, no scrolling, no animation within a message.
- Ten second minimum hold. Each message stays on screen for at least ten seconds before changing.
- Fade or dissolve transitions only, and the transition itself may last no more than one second.
Do the math on what that permits: at a ten second hold, a display shows at most six messages a minute. Any pitch involving scrolling text, animated graphics, or video loops describes a product that cannot legally operate here.
Six messages a minute, each one holding still.
This has a design consequence people underestimate. Since each message sits for ten seconds and cannot move, the message has to work as a static poster read from a moving car. That means very few words, very large type, and high contrast. Cramming a paragraph onto a display because you have ten whole seconds is the most common way an EMC underperforms.
Brightness and Dimming
The brightness provisions are the most technically specific part of the whole sign code.
- Automatic dimming software or solar sensors are required to control brightness for nighttime viewing.
- Maximum 500 nits between dusk and dawn, or 0.3 foot-candle measured from the face of the sign.
- The light source may not produce glare whose effect constitutes a traffic hazard.
- Manufacturer documentation is required verifying compliance with the auto dimming and brightness requirements.
For context, EMC displays are typically capable of many times 500 nits during daylight, when ambient light demands it. The rule governs the dusk to dawn period, which is exactly when an unregulated display becomes a problem for neighbors and drivers. Auto dimming is what allows a single unit to be readable at noon and compliant at midnight.
The general lighting standard from the permit review criteria applies on top of this: light must be shaded, shielded, or directed so it does not adversely affect adjacent properties or interfere with driver and pedestrian visibility.
The Compliance Precondition
Here is the rule that stops more EMC projects than any brightness limit.
Any property that wants to add an EMC component to an existing freestanding sign must bring its signage into compliance with current sign code standards before the EMC is approved.
Think about what that means on a property with signage installed under the previous code. A ground sign that is taller or larger than current standards allow, a wall sign that exceeds today's area calculation, an abandoned tenant panel, a nonconforming sign that has been quietly grandfathered for years: all of it comes into scope the moment you apply for an EMC.
An EMC budget that only covers the display is usually wrong. Before quoting the fun part, someone needs to inventory every sign on the parcel and identify what would have to change. That inventory is required in the application anyway, so it is better done first than found halfway through.
Related and separate: a sign permit will not be approved for a new sign on a property where an existing noncompliant sign is standing. Two different provisions, same practical message. The condition of the whole property decides what you can add to it.
The Temporary Signage Trade-Off
A provision that rarely appears in EMC sales material: temporary signage is prohibited on any property that has an approved electronic message center, aside from limited short term allowances.
That is a real trade, and it deserves a deliberate decision:
| Without an EMC | With an EMC |
|---|---|
| Banners up to 48 sq ft per facade, 96 on multi story | Temporary signage restricted |
| 120 banner display days per calendar year | Restricted |
| Inflatables by permit, two events per year | Restricted |
| Messages change when you print a new banner | Messages change in seconds |
For a business that runs frequent promotions, this is the actual choice: a digital display that updates instantly, or the ability to hang banners for seasonal events. The code does not let you build a strategy on both.
Banner rules and the rest of the temporary signage options are covered in storefront signage cost for a new business.
Office and Civic Near Homes
Churches, schools, and civic institutions are among the most common EMC applicants, and they face two additional limits where they sit next to residential uses.
- A 200 foot separation requirement applies for office and civic uses adjacent to residential.
- No message changes between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM. The display can remain lit within the brightness limits, but the content must hold overnight.
Both provisions are aimed at the same thing: a changing light source across the street from bedrooms. If your site is a church or school with homes nearby, measure that separation before doing anything else, because it can end the conversation early and cheaply.
Also relevant for office and civic uses: illuminated wall signs are prohibited for office and civic uses adjacent to residential, which is a separate provision from the EMC rules and worth checking at the same time.
Maintenance and Next Steps
The code sets a maintenance standard specific to these displays: failed LED modules must be repaired or replaced within 30 days.
That is a shorter clock than most owners expect, and it has budget implications. A display with dead pixels or dark blocks is not merely unattractive, it is out of compliance, and the fix requires a supplier who can still source matching modules years after installation. Ask about module availability and service terms before purchase, not after.
Before you commit to an EMC
- Inventory every sign on the property and identify what would need to change to meet current standards.
- Calculate the permitted area for the host sign, then halve it for a freestanding EMC or apply the 32 square foot ceiling for a wall EMC.
- Confirm the manufacturer can document auto dimming and the 500 nit limit.
- Check separations if the use is office or civic adjacent to residential.
- Decide about temporary signage, since an approved EMC restricts it.
- Then design the host sign, because the static portion still has to identify the business.
APG designs, permits, produces, and installs commercial signs across Colorado Springs and El Paso County, and we confirm the applicable scope and requirements as part of the project review. If a static illuminated sign would serve your site better than a changeable display, we will tell you that, because on many properties it will.
Once the estimate is approved and the deposit is received, our team will begin the design and proofing process. Service overview at custom signs in Colorado Springs.
The Short Version
- An EMC needs a permit plus an executed letter of compliance, and manufacturer documentation verifying auto dimming and brightness.
- Messages must be static with a minimum ten second hold, and only fade or dissolve transitions lasting no more than one second. No scrolling, animation, or video.
- Brightness is capped at 500 nits, or 0.3 foot-candle from the sign face, between dusk and dawn, with automatic dimming or solar sensors required.
- Size is capped at 50 percent of a permitted freestanding sign's area, or the lesser of 32 square feet and the maximum allowable area on a wall sign.
- One EMC per property, never standalone, and never both a wall EMC and a freestanding EMC.
- A property must bring its existing signage into compliance with current standards before an EMC is approved, which is what stops most projects.
- Temporary signage is restricted on properties with an approved EMC, so frequent banner promotions and a digital display are close to mutually exclusive.
Where this information comes from
- City of Colorado Springs Unified Development Code, Chapter 7, Article 4, Part 13 (Signs), as adopted by Sign Ordinance No. 26-01, February 2026. Electronic message center criteria including area limits, quantity, hold time, transitions, brightness and dimming, documentation, maintenance, and the compliance precondition.
- Sign permit application requirements including the executed letter of compliance for electronic message centers, and the review criteria covering lighting and off-site impacts.
- Prohibited sign provisions covering flashing and varying intensity lighting, projected imagery, and digital messages that change other than as permitted.
- APG permit and installation records, Colorado Springs office.
This guide summarizes a municipal code for general information. It is not legal advice, code language changes, and the city is the final authority on any specific property.
