Thurston County, WA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Title 23 TCC, Ch. 23.42 (Olympia UGA sign code)
- Duration limit
- None; holiday decorations are exempt
- Permit required
- No permit or fee for holiday decorations
- General sign removal notice
- 30 days written notice, § 23.42.060(B)
- General max sign height
- 35 feet, § 23.42.060(D)
Summary
Thurston County places no time limit on holiday lighting or seasonal decorations in the unincorporated Olympia Urban Growth Area. Section 23.42.020 of the Olympia UGA Zoning Ordinance excludes "holiday decorations" entirely from the sign chapter, so no permit, size cap, height limit, or removal deadline applies to string lights, wreaths, inflatables, or yard displays put up for a holiday.
It is the purpose of this chapter to safeguard the life, health and welfare of the citizens of the Olympia UGA by regulating and controlling the design, quality of materials, construction, location, use, electrification and maintenance of all signs and sign structures. ... This chapter shall not regulate building design, official directional signs, traffic signs, copy of signs (except as provided in Section 23.42.120Q5), design of signs, signs not intended to be viewed from a public right-of-way, window displays, point of purchase advertising displays such as product dispensers and candy machines, national flags, flags of political subdivisions, gravestones, holiday decorations, historical site plaques or other such signs of a noncommercial nature.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 77).
Full Breakdown
42 of Title 23 TCC, the Olympia Urban Growth Area Zoning Ordinance, is the sign code that governs unincorporated land around Olympia. 020 states its purpose is to regulate "the design, quality of materials, construction, location, use, electrification and maintenance of all signs and sign structures," then lists what the chapter deliberately does not touch, and holiday decorations sit on that list alongside building design, official directional and traffic signs, window displays, national flags, gravestones, and historical site plaques. 060(B), which otherwise lets the county's planning department order a noncompliant sign taken down on thirty days' written notice to the owner.
A seasonal light display can go up before Thanksgiving and stay up past New Year's without ever triggering that notice-and-removal process, because the process only reaches signs that are "in violation of these standards," and holiday decorations were never subject to those standards to begin with. The exemption is unconditional: it carries no seasonal window, no square-footage cap, and no distinction between a single strand of lights and a full yard installation.
Violations & Fines
There is no violation pathway for a holiday display as such, because Section 23.42.020 removes it from the chapter's coverage. The enforcement tool that exists for actual signs, a written thirty-day removal notice under Section 23.42.060(B) followed by county removal and a lien on the property for the cost, applies only to signs found in violation of the chapter's design, height, or permit standards. A resident cannot be cited under Chapter 23.42 for how long a holiday display stays lit or how large it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I keep holiday lights up in unincorporated Olympia?
Do I need a sign permit for a holiday display in Thurston County?
Can the county order my holiday lights removed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Thurston County
Compare Thurston County to another location·View the Washington sign regulations overview
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