Austin imposes no general restriction on year-round lawn ornaments, statuary, or religious displays on private residential property. The sign code (LDC 25-10) exempts non-commercial residential displays. Political signs are protected speech subject only to LDC 25-10's residential sign caps. HOA CC&Rs in deed-restricted neighborhoods often add architectural-review requirements that the city does not.
Lawn ornaments - statuary, religious displays, garden art, seasonal figures - are not regulated by Austin's municipal code on private residential property. LDC 25-10 (sign code) defines a sign by its communicative function and exempts non-commercial residential displays from permit and size requirements. Religious displays additionally receive First Amendment and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) protection. Political signs on residential property are addressed in LDC 25-10 with a cap of 8 sq ft per face in residential zones and require no permit, with no time-period restriction following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015) which Austin's code accommodates. Items placed in the public planter strip or sidewalk require a temporary use of right-of-way permit under City Code Title 12. The sight-distance rules in LDC 25-6 cap items in the visibility triangle at corner lots at 30 inches in height. HOA communities frequently require architectural review for permanent statuary and may impose material or quantity limits.
No city violations for ordinary lawn ornaments on private property. Political sign violations (oversized) trigger Code Enforcement removal notices. Right-of-way violations result in removal by Public Works and possible citations. HOA architectural-review violations are private CC&R enforcement, not city action.
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