Apex, NC Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)
Key Facts
- Instrument
- UDO, codified July 2021
- General rule
- No permanent string lights on most surfaces
- Holiday exception
- Customary holiday decorations fully exempt
- Town-owned trees
- Must be relit at least twice yearly
- Jurisdiction reach
- Corporate limits plus mapped ETJ
Summary
Apex's UDO bans permanent illuminated tubing and string lights on trees, rooflines, and building walls, but carves out an explicit exception for reasonable, customary holiday decorations, plus a twice-yearly rotation rule for Town-owned trees.
Illuminated tubing or strings of light on trees and landscaping or outlining property lines or open sales areas, rooflines or wall edges of buildings are prohibited except for reasonable and customary holiday decorations. This prohibition does not apply to Town of Apex owned trees provided that the illuminated tubing or strings of lights on trees are not permanently installed and are removed from the tree and reinstalled or replaced at least twice per year.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: the cited page had not changed since it was quoted.
Full Breakdown
Apex's Unified Development Ordinance prohibits permanent illuminated tubing or strings of light on trees, landscaping, property lines, rooflines, and building walls town-wide, but exempts reasonable and customary holiday decorations. A separate exemption in the same exterior-lighting article removes seasonal holiday and civic-event lighting from the UDO's design standards entirely, so residents don't need a lighting plan for a Christmas display. The only fixed timing rule anywhere in the text covers Town-owned trees: lights there can't be a permanent installation and must be taken down and reinstalled or replaced at least twice a year. This July 2021-codified UDO standard reaches Apex's corporate limits and its mapped extraterritorial jurisdiction in Wake County.
Violations & Fines
Stringing permanent, non-holiday tubing or lights on trees, rooflines or walls outside the holiday exception violates Sec. 8.6.4 and is enforceable under the UDO's Article 11 general enforcement and correction provisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit for Christmas lights in Apex, NC?
Is there a date by which holiday lights must come down in Apex?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Apex
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Holiday Displays in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Wake County handle holiday displays.