Middletown, OH Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

02(e) requires a certificate of zoning compliance for most signs. 02(d)(4), reads simply: any holiday lighting, signs, or related decorations. 09 that limit banner signs to 15 days four times a year and yard signs in nonresidential districts to 14 consecutive days four times a year, and not the size and height limits that apply to yard and banner signs elsewhere in the chapter. A homeowner stringing lights across a porch roofline or a business wrapping a storefront in holiday decorations for the season is not required to file anything with the Development Code Administrator's office, unlike the certificate a business would need for a banner sign covering existing signage.

The exemption was adopted as part of the citywide sign-code overhaul, Ord. O2018-02, passed 2-20-2018, and has not been narrowed by the 2020 or 2021 amendments to the chapter. The exemption names holiday displays specifically but does not distinguish between religious, secular, or purely decorative lighting, so any seasonal light display or decoration qualifies without further inquiry into its theme.