SB2353

SECTION 1. Chapter 445, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part IV to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§445- Digital outdoor signage devices; allowed display. (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, display of outdoor advertising devices, including digital outdoor signage devices, shall be allowed within the Waikiki area of Oahu, the boundaries of which are delineated in the land use ordinance as amended, establishing the "Waikiki Special District".

(b) No later than , each county with a population of five hundred thousand or more shall adopt ordinances necessary to implement this section.

(c) For the purposes of this section, "digital outdoor signage device" means any outdoor advertising device displaying a message that may be changed by electronic processes or designed to attract attention by the inclusion of a flashing, changing, revolving, or flickering light source or change in light intensity. "Digital outdoor signage device" includes signs with electronically generated or controlled images, such as electronic programmable message signs, digital signs, and plasma or light-emitting diode (LED) signs."

SECTION 2. Section 445-112, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§445-112 Where and when permitted. No person shall erect, maintain, or use a billboard or display any outdoor advertising device, except as provided in this section:

(1) The display of official notices and signs, posted by order of any court or public office, or posted by any public officer in the performance of a public duty, or posted by any person required to do so by any law or rule having the force of law;

(2) Any outdoor advertising device announcing a meeting or series of meetings is not prohibited by this section if displayed on the premises where the meeting or series of meetings will be or is being held. Meeting, as used in this section, includes all meetings regardless of whether open to the public or conducted for profit and includes but is not limited to sports events, conventions, fairs, rallies, plays, lectures, concerts, motion pictures, dances, and religious services;

(3) Any outdoor advertising device indicating that the building or premises on which it is displayed is the residence, office, or place of business, commercial or otherwise, of any individual, partnership, joint venture, association, club, or corporation, and stating the nature of the business;

(4) Any outdoor advertising device that advertises property or services that may be bought, rented, sold, or otherwise traded in on the premises or in the building on which the outdoor advertising device is displayed;

(5) The offering for sale of merchandise bearing incidental advertising, including books, magazines, and newspapers, in any store, newsstand, vending machine, rack, or other place where such merchandise is regularly sold;

(6) Any outdoor advertising device offering any land, building, or part of a building for sale or rent, if displayed on the property so offered or on the building so offered;

(7) Any outdoor advertising device carried by persons or placed upon vehicles used for the transportation of persons or goods, except as provided under section 445‑112.5, relating to vehicular advertising devices;

(8) Any outdoor advertising device warning the public of dangerous conditions that they may encounter in nearby sections of streets, roads, paths, public places, power lines, gas and water mains, or other public utilities;

(9) Signs serving no commercial purpose that indicate places of natural beauty, or of historical or cultural interest and that are made according to designs approved by the department of business, economic development, and tourism;

(10) Any outdoor advertising device or billboard erected, placed, or maintained upon a state office building, if erected, placed, or maintained by authority of a state agency, department, or officer for the sole purpose of announcing cultural or educational events within the State, and if the design and location thereof has been approved by the department of business, economic development, and tourism;

(11) Signs urging voters to vote for or against any person or issue, may be erected, maintained, and used, except where contrary to or prohibited by law;

(12) Signs stating that a residence that is offered for sale, lease, or rent is open for inspection at the actual time the sign is displayed and showing the route to the residence; provided that the sign contains no words or designs other than the words "Open House", the address of the residence, the name of the person or agency responsible for the sale, and an arrow or other directional symbol and is removed during such time as the residence is not open for inspection;

(13) The erection, maintenance, and use of billboards if the billboard is used solely for outdoor advertising devices not prohibited by this section;

(14) The continued display and maintenance of outdoor advertising devices actually displayed on July 8, 1965, in accordance with all laws and ordinances immediately theretofore in effect;

(15) The continued maintenance of any billboard actually maintained on July 8, 1965, and the display thereon of the same or new advertising devices, all in accordance with all laws and ordinances in effect immediately prior to July 9, 1965;

(16) Any outdoor advertising device, displayed with the authorization of the University of Hawaii, on any scoreboard of any stadium owned by the university. An outdoor advertising device displayed under this paragraph shall be on the front of the scoreboard and face the interior of the stadium;

(17) Any temporary outdoor advertising device attached to or supported by the structure of any stadium owned by the University of Hawaii, located within and facing the interior of the stadium, and authorized to be displayed by the university. For the purpose of this paragraph, "temporary" means displayed for a short period before the official start of organized athletic competition, during the organized athletic competition, and for a short period after the official end of the organized athletic competition;

(18) Any outdoor advertising device, displayed with the authorization of the stadium authority[~~, on~~]:

(A) On any scoreboard of any stadium operated by the stadium authority[~~. An~~]; provided that an outdoor advertising device displayed under this [~~paragraph~~] subparagraph shall be on the front of the scoreboard and face the interior of the stadium; [~~and~~] or

(B) In the stadium development district; provided that for the purposes of this subparagraph, "outdoor advertising device" includes "digital outdoor signage device", as the term is defined in section 445- ;

(19) Any outdoor advertising device, displayed with the authorization of the city and county of Honolulu, on the scoreboard of the Waipio peninsula soccer stadium. The outdoor advertising device shall be:

(A) Attached to the bottom of the scoreboard;

(B) No longer than the width of the scoreboard; and

The scoreboard shall be no larger than twenty-eight feet by ten feet. Any outdoor advertising device displayed pursuant to this paragraph shall be on the front of the scoreboard and face the interior of the stadium; provided that the outdoor advertising device shall not be visible from any thoroughfare[.]; and

(20) Any outdoor advertising device, including digital outdoor signage devices, displayed pursuant to permission pursuant to section 445- ."

SECTION 3. Section 445-113, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§445-113 Regulation by counties. Except for outdoor advertising devices authorized under section 445-112(16) and (17), the several counties may adopt ordinances regulating billboards and outdoor advertising devices not prohibited by [~~sections 445-111 to 445-121.~~] this part. The ordinances may:

(1) Classify billboards and outdoor advertising devices in the classes set forth in section 445-112, or in any other reasonable manner of classification;

(2) Regulate the size, manner of construction, color, illumination, location, and appearance of any class of billboard or outdoor advertising device;

(3) Prohibit the erection or maintenance of any type of billboard or the displaying of any outdoor advertising device in particular parts, or in all parts, of the county; provided that the prohibition shall not apply to any official notice or sign described in section 445-112(1); and provided further that, unless a county ordinance specifies otherwise, the prohibition shall extend to billboards or outdoor advertising devices located in the airspace or waters beyond the boundaries of the county that are visible from any public highway, park, or other public place located within the county;

(4) Control and license the business of making, erecting, posting, renting, and maintaining outdoor advertising devices and billboards as a business providing advertising for others, and require each person engaging in such business to obtain an annual license, the fee for which shall not exceed $100. The license shall be conditioned upon the maintenance of all outdoor advertising devices and billboards in a safe state, and the observance of [~~sections 445-111 to 445‑121~~] this part and all applicable ordinances and shall be revocable by the licensing authority upon breach of such condition;

(5) Require that no person, whether licensed under paragraph (4) or not, shall erect or maintain any billboard unless it is licensed by a permit issued by the county, the issuance of which permit shall be conditioned upon compliance with this chapter and all applicable ordinances and the payment to the county of an annual fee not to exceed $25 per billboard; and

(6) Provide for such other regulation of billboards and outdoor advertising devices as will promote the public health, welfare, safety, and convenience; encourage and promote the tourist and visitor trade; conserve and develop the natural beauty of the State, as well as objects and places of historic and cultural interest; foster sightliness and physical good order; and promote the purposes and provisions of [~~sections 445‑111 to 445-121.~~] this part."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2353
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII