Issaquah, WA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Issaquah Land Use Code § 18.610.040(A)(8) is the rule that governs holiday displays in the city. It is an exemption, not a free pass: the chapter's standards do not apply to temporary seasonal or festival lighting, but only when two conditions hold. Every individual lamp must be less than 70 lumens, and the lights must comply with dark sky hours. The code then defines the category narrowly. Seasonal or festival lighting is temporary lighting installed and operated in connection with holidays or festivals for periods not to exceed 60 days. After that it must be completely removed and not operated again for at least 30 days. A display that never comes down, or that is switched back on before the 30-day gap has passed, no longer fits the definition and falls back under the ordinary lighting rules.

The dark sky hours condition points to Table 18.610.060(E)(1). That table sets dark sky hours between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or 30 minutes after a business closes to 30 minutes before it opens, whichever provides more dark sky, and calls for total outdoor lighting to be reduced by at least 30 percent or extinguished.

The subsection also addresses rooflines. Buildings can be outlined as part of a temporary display if the outlining uses individual white bulbs within the 70 lumen limit. That matters because § 18.610.050(A)(10) separately prohibits neon or other lighting, such as LEDs, that outlines buildings or roofs in a continuous line of any color, and § 18.610.050(A)(6) prohibits blinking, flashing intermittent, and moving lights. Large public festivals are handled differently: temporary seasonal and festival lighting can be subject to approval as part of a special event permit under Chapter 5.14 IMC. Separately, § 18.610.080(B)(5) bars permanent lighting from being attached to trees but allows temporary, seasonal, or festival lighting in trees in a manner that does not harm the tree.