Texas City, TX Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Holiday displays in Texas City, Texas are handled through the city's Sign Regulations, Chapter 155 of the Texas City Code of Ordinances, which apply inside the city limits and not in unincorporated Galveston County. Section 155.020 makes it unlawful to erect, relocate or structurally alter a sign without first obtaining an erection permit from the Building Inspector, except as provided in § 155.026. Item (I) of § 155.026 is the holiday exception: temporary displays or decorations customarily associated with any national, state, local or religious holiday or celebration need no permit, and item (I) itself refers to them as such signs.

The clock is what item (I) regulates. Erection cannot begin more than 45 days before the celebration, and removal must be finished no later than 14 days after it. Compare the other timed exemptions in the same section: political signs go up no earlier than 60 days before the election and come down seven days after; signs for community events by non-profit organizations are erected no more than ten days in advance and removed within one day after the event; garage or yard sale signs are posted no more than three days prior and removed one day after. Item (I) prints no square-foot or height cap, while the community event exemption caps signs at 32 square feet in area and seven feet in height.

The exemption is from the permit requirements of the chapter only. Other rules in Chapter 155 print no holiday carve-out: § 155.051 says no person shall attach or maintain a sign upon any tree, street sign, bench, fence, utility pole or other public or private amenity, and § 155.046 bars signs lit with lights which glare into or upon any residential premises. The Building Official enforces the chapter by written notice under § 155.086.