Mesa County, CO Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Section 9.03.A of the Land Development Code lists the signs that do not require a permit in any zone district, and subsection 3 specifically covers "temporary decorations or displays clearly incidental, customary and commonly associated with national or local holiday celebrations." The code does not attach a maximum display duration, square footage cap, or illumination limit to this particular exemption, unlike the neighboring exemption in Section 9.03.A.4 for non-illuminated temporary signs, which caps unlit temporary signage at six square feet each (up to six per acre, one of which may reach thirty-two square feet during active construction).

Because holiday decorations fall outside the LDC's general sign-permit and sign-allowance system entirely, they are not counted against a property's total sign allowance under Section 9.06 or the district-specific allowances in Sections 9.08 and 9.09. The exemption sits within Chapter 9's broader purpose in Section 9.01, which is to promote traffic safety and protect the county's visual appearance; displays that create a traffic hazard, are confused with a traffic control device, or otherwise violate the Section 9.02 list of prohibited signs (such as strings of light bulbs not permanently mounted on a rigid background) remain subject to those separate restrictions even when installed for a holiday.