Southborough, MA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Two parts of the Zoning Bylaw touch holiday displays. The Outdoor Illumination section, § 174-12.1, covers flood or spot luminaires rated at 900 lumens or more and other luminaires rated at 1,800 lumens or more, including on single- and two-family residential lots. Subsection (B)(1) lists three exceptions: emergency lighting, hazard warning and temporary decorative or holiday lighting. Holiday lighting is therefore outside the section's provisions, which cover total site lumens by lighting zone, shielding above the horizontal plane and the 20-foot pole height cap.

The sign bylaw matters when lights become signage. Section 174-11(C)(2)(h) says banners, pennants, streamers, ribbons, spinners and other moving, fluttering, revolving or changing devices and strings of lights shall not be used as signs or parts thereof, with two provisos: lights can be used as part of a religious celebration not connected to commercial promotion, and banners or similar devices can be used for temporary political signs. A string of lights used as a sign for a business is inside the ban, while lights that are part of a religious celebration not connected to commercial promotion are carved out.

The bylaw does not define temporary in days. Section 174-12.1 sets no start date, end date or removal deadline for holiday lighting. The thirty-day limit in § 174-11(C)(11) is a rule for temporary signs, which the sign bylaw defines as signs relative to sales, rentals, construction, garage or yard sales and events, not decorative lighting. The Building Inspector administers the sign provisions, and the Planning Board promulgates the rules and regulations under the outdoor illumination section.