24.14 Billboards

All billboards shall comply with the following requirements.

24.14.A Billboard Permit   

Requests for permits for the construction or erection of new billboards or for any alteration to existing billboards are subject to the following requirements.

1.  A billboard permit application provided by the Director of the Department of Safety and Permits shall be submitted, together with:

a.  One (1) electronic submission in a format to be determined by the Director of the Department of Safety and Permits.

b.  A portfolio of photographs of the site and its environs including all site elevations in both print and electronic format.

c.  Specifications as may be necessary to fully advise and acquaint the Director of the Department of Safety and Permits with the location, manner of construction, materials, manner of support, manner of illumination (if any), the number of sign faces, and the proposed alteration.

2.  All billboards that are electrically illuminated by any means require a separate electrical permit and inspection.

3.  Each billboard shall be clearly and permanently marked with the correct permit number and name of the person(s), firm(s) or owner(s) of the sign(s). Each sign face is required to display a nameplate and a sign permit identification plate.

4.  Notwithstanding all other provisions of these regulations, the person(s), firm(s) or owner(s) of the sign(s) shall annually submit an inventory of all current billboards to the Director of the Department of Safety and Permits along with all requirements of the billboard permit, in order to maintain control over such signs in New Orleans. Inventory shall include GPS coordinates of all current billboards. 

Adopted by Ord 28908 MCS, 1-6-22, ZD 64/21

24.14.B Billboard Locations   

24.14.B.1 Allowed Locations   

Billboards are permitted in the districts indicated in Table 24-3 Permitted Billboard Locations. However, if any of these locations are within those areas identified as prohibited billboard locations in Paragraph 2 below, billboards are prohibited. 

Adopted by Ord. 29126 MCS, 8-4-22, ZD 16/22

24.14.B.2 Prohibited Locations   

No billboard may be erected, constructed, altered, maintained, or relocated within the following areas except in conformance with the requirements of Article 25, Section 25.7 Legal Nonconforming Billboards Conversion to Electronic Format Trade System:

a.  Within five-hundred (500) front feet of any residential zoning district on the same side of the street.

b.  Within any design review corridor identified in Article 18.

c.  Within all views of the Vieux Carré and St. Louis Cathedral from both sides of the Mississippi River.

d.  Within the Mississippi River corridor, interpreted as views from any point on the river.

e.  St. Claude Avenue and North Robertson Street westbound, from Deslonde Street to Poland Avenue, and Clouet Street to Franklin Avenue (all views along riverside of roadway).

f.  Franklin Avenue southbound, at all grade separations (all views along southwestern side of roadway).

g.  Loyola Avenue traveling downtown between Simon Bolivar and Poydras Street.

h.  Tchoupitoulas Street, Camp Street, Carondelet Street, Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard/O'Keefe Avenue traveling downtown between Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard/Melpomene.

i.  Orleans Avenue/Basin Street traveling uptown between Claiborne Avenue and Canal Street.

j.  The eastbound Airline Highway/Tulane Avenue approach from the Jefferson Parish line to Carrollton Avenue.

k.  The eastbound Earhart Expressway approach between the Jefferson Parish line and the CBD.

l.  The eastbound I-10 approach between the high-rise bridge and the Pontchartrain Expressway interchange.

m.  The westbank approach to the Crescent City Connection and the Pontchartrain Expressway from the DeGaulle entrance ramp to the Claiborne Avenue/I-10 interchange. 

Adopted by Ord 28908 MCS, 1-6-22, ZD 64/21

24.14.C Billboard Standards   

1.  The height of billboards is limited to twenty-five (25) feet above the roadbed toward where the advertising is directed. Billboards adjacent to grade separated/elevated roadways are permitted to measure the twenty-five (25) foot height from the roadbed crown to the tallest projection of the structure. This measurement is taken at a perpendicular angle between the grade separated/elevated roadway and the sign location.

2.  The area of billboards is limited to six hundred seventy-two (672) square feet of advertising surface on one side.

3.  Billboards shall be separated from other billboards along either side of the same street by a minimum distance of one thousand (1,000) feet.

4.  Billboards shall be setback from all property lines a minimum of five (5) feet.

5.    Electronic billboards are permitted subject to the following:

a. Only one (1) electronic billboard is permitted per lot.

b. Electronic billboards shall be separated from other electronic billboards along either side of the same street a minimum distance of one thousand (1,000) feet except in conformance with the requirements of Article 25, Section 25.7 Legal Nonconforming Billboards Conversion to Electronic Format Trade System.

c. Each message or image displayed on a electronic billboard shall be static or depicted for a minimum of eight (8) seconds. Animation, streaming video, and images that move or give the appearance of movement are prohibited.

d. No illumination from any electronic billboard may glare into any residential premises or interfere with the safe movement of motor vehicles on public thoroughfares.

e. An electronic billboard shall not exceed a maximum illumination of six-thousand (6,000) nits during daylight hours, and a maximum illumination of five-hundred (500) nits between dusk and dawn, as measured from the sign’s face at maximum brightness. All electronic billboards shall have ambient light monitors, which automatically adjust the brightness level of the digital sign based on ambient light conditions.

f. No nonconforming billboard may be converted to an electronic billboard except in conformance with the requirements of Article 25, Section 25.7 Legal Nonconforming Billboards Conversion to Electronic Format Trade System.

6.  No billboard may have audio speakers or any audio component.

Adopted by Ord 28908 MCS, 1-6-22, ZD 64/21

24.14.D Variance of Billboard Standards   

Applications for any variance to the requirements of this section shall be accompanied by the following:

1.  A development plan.

2.  A portfolio of photographs of the site and its environs, including all site elevations in both print and electronic format.

3.  Specifications and (3) paper sets of drawings and one (1) electronic submission of the proposed billboard.

4.  Any other information, either written or graphic, as required by the Board of Zoning Adjustments to aid in their decision process.

24.14.E New Orleans Billboard Report   

The person(s), firm(s) or owner(s) of all billboards within the City of New Orleans shall annually submit an inventory, including a site plan showing the location of the billboard with GPS coordinates, a photograph of the billboard, a description of the size and type of billboard, and all contact information for the owner of such billboard, along with all requirements of the billboard permit to the Director of the Department of Safety and Permits in order to maintain control over such signs in New Orleans.