Albemarle County, VA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

6 lists the outdoor lighting and related acts that are exempt from the full cutoff, spillover and other standards in Sec. 17. Subsection (b) groups holiday decorative lighting with construction, agricultural and emergency lighting under one condition: the lighting must be temporary and must be discontinued within seven days after the project or the holiday for which it was installed is complete. That means a homeowner or business stringing up seasonal lights does not need to worry about the full cutoff fixture rule in Sec.

4(a) or the one-half foot candle spillover cap in Sec. 4(b), as long as the display comes down within a week of the holiday. Other exemptions in the same section cover lighting of the American or Virginia flag and other constitutionally protected noncommercial flags, security lighting controlled by a motion sensor that runs 15 minutes or less, replacement of a burned-out lamp in a fixture installed before the ordinance's adoption, and replacement of a failed luminaire that matches others in a group serving a common purpose.

A display left up longer than seven days past the holiday loses its exempt status and becomes subject to the same full cutoff and spillover standards that apply to any other outdoor luminaire, which can require shielding or removal if it casts more than one-half foot candle onto a neighboring residential lot or a public road.