San Ramon, CA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Section D3-45(L) sits inside the Zoning Ordinance's list of signs exempt from Architectural Review Board, Zoning Administrator, and Planning Commission review. Holiday lights and similar decorative devices qualify for that exemption automatically, without a permit, as long as two conditions are met: the display cannot advertise a product or a sale, and it can only be up for a defined window around the holiday itself, going up no earlier than 45 calendar days before the holiday and coming down within 14 calendar days after it.

A homeowner stringing lights for a winter holiday in early November and leaving them until February, or a business using holiday-themed lighting to promote a seasonal sale, falls outside the exemption's two conditions. Once a display advertises a product or sale, or overstays the 45-day-before/14-day-after window, it is no longer an exempt holiday display and is instead evaluated under the general Chapter IV sign standards, which can require a permit, count the lights toward the property's overall sign area allowance, or trigger the illumination curfew in Section D3-49(C) for displays near residential zones.