Lower Merion, PA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Chapter 105, Article III of the Lower Merion Township Code regulates outdoor lighting broadly, but Section 105-12.B(3) lists exemptions, and subsection (f) covers holiday displays with lamps less than 5 watts and 50 lumens. The article's definitions in Section 105-11 describe SEASONAL LIGHTING as temporary lighting installed and operated in connection with holidays or traditions, and separately define TEMPORARY LIGHTING as lighting installed and operated for periods not to exceed 60 days, which must then be completely removed and not operated again for at least 30 days.

Read together, a household stringing holiday lights escapes the article's shielding, uplight, and mounting-height rules only if each individual bulb stays under 5 watts and 50 lumens, which covers typical string lights but not larger floodlit or spotlight-style seasonal displays; a display built from higher-wattage fixtures instead has to meet the general outdoor lighting standards in Section 105-12, including the zero-uplight rule for hardscape-facing fixtures and the Township's glare and light-trespass limits. The 60-day operating cap plus 30-day dark period in the TEMPORARY LIGHTING definition functions as the practical duration limit on any seasonal display relying on the temporary-lighting exemption rather than the low-wattage seasonal exemption, since a display running longer than 60 days would no longer qualify as temporary under the code's own definition.