Moreno Valley, CA Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Section 9.12.040(A) exempts a list of low-impact signs from the city's minor development review permit process, and "temporary holiday decorations" is item two on that list, sitting alongside interior signs and residential name plates. The same introductory clause still requires every exempt sign to "adhere to the regulations established for each sign type" and notes that "a building permit may be required," so the permit exemption removes planning review, not every possible check on a large or structural display.

Lighting tied to a holiday gets a second, separate exemption. Section 9.08.100 sets a citywide outdoor lighting chapter that otherwise imposes a 10 p.m. lighting curfew on nonresidential parcels, bans mercury vapor fixtures and upward-pointed billboard lighting, and requires most fixtures to be permanently mounted. Subsection I lists nine categories of lighting exempt from that entire chapter, and "Holiday and temporary lighting" is the fifth, meaning seasonal string lights and illuminated yard displays are not subject to the curfew, the fixture-mounting rules, or the lighting-plan submittal otherwise required under subsection J.

Because both exemptions run from the same code, a resident can put up a fully lit holiday display without a sign permit or a lighting plan. The exemption is topic-specific, though: it covers holiday decorations and holiday lighting as described, not year-round yard art or permanent landscape lighting, which fall under the general sign and lighting standards instead.