Hialeah, FL Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Every sign erected, displayed, altered or relocated within the city ordinarily needs a building permit under Sec. 74-86, issued by the planning and development department after a site plan, structural drawings and, for illuminated displays, an electrical schematic are filed under Sec. 74-88. Sec. 74-87 lists the narrow set of signs the city carves out of that requirement, and holiday decorations are item (6) on that list: decorations that do not require structural support or electrical connections are exempt outright, unless a licensed electrician is required to do the work, in which case that electrical portion still needs its own permit.

The code's broad definition of 'sign' in Sec. 74-1, covering any structure used for identification, advertising, informational or display purposes and expressly reaching statuary, sculpture, molding, casting or other objects used for display purposes, is what pulls yard ornaments and holiday displays into the sign chapter's jurisdiction in the first place; a purely decorative lawn ornament with no advertising or informational message generally falls outside that definition and outside the chapter's permit and removal machinery. Once a display does trigger the sign code, whether because it advertises a business or because it needs an electrician-installed connection, the city's permit review runs through Sec.

74-90: the city has 30 days to approve or deny the application, and a denial can be appealed to the planning and zoning board within 30 days, with a further de novo appeal available to the city council.