Mebane, NC Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Two different articles of the UDO touch holiday displays. The outdoor-lighting chapter, Section 6-6, opens its list of prohibited fixtures by banning flashing or revolving lights, high-intensity search or laser lights except for public-safety use, high-intensity LED or neon fixtures wrapped around windows, doors, or architectural features, luminous tube lighting such as neon or rope lighting on building exteriors, and floodlights not integrated into the architecture. UDO § 6-6(B) exempts 'temporary lighting associated with holiday decorations' from that entire prohibited-fixtures list, and its high-intensity LED/neon clause narrows further, banning that kind of fixture only when it is used for purposes other than traditional holiday decorations, so seasonal LED or neon trim around a door or window is allowed where the same fixture left up year-round would not be.

The separate sign chapter, Section 6-7, reaches the same conclusion from the sign side: § 6-7.3(K) exempts strings of light bulbs displayed for traditional holiday decorations from the prohibited string-lighting sign category, and § 6-7.4(I) puts holiday lights and decorations with no commercial message, displayed temporarily on traditionally adopted civic, patriotic, or religious holidays, on the list of signs exempt from permits and fees entirely. Together the two chapters mean a Mebane household or business can put up seasonal lights and yard displays without a lighting plan, a sign permit, or a fee, as long as the display carries no commercial message and comes down after the holiday.