Pontiac, MI Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Pontiac's zoning ordinance draws a bright line for holiday and seasonal lighting under § 5.103.L, one of the exempt-sign categories listed in Chapter 5: seasonal decorations that do not convey a commercial message are not considered signage at all, so they need no permit and are not counted toward a property's allowed sign area. That exemption sits alongside the other permit-free categories in § 5.103, such as address numbers, small occupant signs, and window displays, all of which the Building and Safety Engineering Division treats as outside the permitting process described in § 5.102.A.

The exemption has a limit built into its own wording, though: it covers only decorations without a commercial message. Section 5.102.L confirms the flip side, that noncommercial copy may be substituted for commercial copy on any lawful sign, which is part of the same distinction that keeps a display noncommercial. If a seasonal display does carry advertising, promotes a business, or otherwise becomes a sign, it falls under the prohibited-sign list in § 5.104, and subsection E specifically bars strings of light bulbs, along with banners, pennants, ribbons, streamers, and spinners, as sign elements, unless permitted by other legislation.

In practice that means a homeowner's Christmas lights and inflatable decorations are unregulated, but a business that strings lights to spell out a sale or a brand name is regulated as signage and loses the seasonal exemption.