Gilbert, AZ Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Gilbert's Land Development Code addresses inflatable holiday decorations indirectly, through the definition of the word "sign" itself rather than through a dedicated decoration ordinance. Section 2.0, Terms, defines "Sign" as any device, fixture, placard or structure which draws attention to an object, product, place, activity, opinion, person, institution, organization, or place of business, or which identifies or promotes the interests of any person and which may be viewed from the private property of another or from any public street, road, highway, right-of-way or parking area, and then expressly carves out several categories from that definition: the term "sign" for regulatory purposes shall not include graveyard and cemetery markers visible from a public area, vending machines or express mail drop-off boxes visible from a public area, decorations visible from a public area, artwork or a building's architectural features visible from a public area, or a manufacturer's or seller's markings on machinery or equipment visible from a public area.

Because "decorations visible from a public area" fall outside the definition of "sign" entirely, they are not reached by the Section 5.6.3 Prohibited Signs list, including item F, "Inflatable Signs." That prohibition, and the matching Terms definition of "Inflatable Sign," is written to cover an inflatable form of device or sign that is displayed, printed or painted on the surface of a balloon or other inflatable background and is used to attract attention to or advertise a noncommercial or commercial message or location, i.e., an inflatable functioning as advertising. A residential inflatable snowman, pumpkin or Santa displayed as seasonal decor rather than to advertise a business or message is a "decoration" under the Terms definition, not a regulated "sign," so it does not need a sign permit and isn't subject to the Section 5.6 chapter's size, illumination or placement standards. Neither the Land Development Code nor the separate Code of Gilbert general ordinances contains a standalone holiday-decoration ordinance; this exclusion inside the sign definition is the only Town provision that touches the subject.