Stratford, CT Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Holiday lighting in the Town of Stratford is handled by two parts of the Zoning Regulations. Section 6.7.3 lists the types of lighting exempt from the Section 6.7 outdoor lighting regulations: critical lighting used by police, fire, or emergency services, historical statues and monuments, traditional, temporary seasonal or holiday lighting (November through January), and short-term lighting authorized by a special event approval. The November through January window is the only calendar period the exemption prints. Outside it, the shielding, glare and timer standards of Section 6.7.5 apply to lighting on covered properties.

Those standards cover the installation or replacement of outdoor lighting fixtures at commercial, industrial, and residential properties with more than three units (Section 6.7.2). Section 6.7.5 requires fixtures to emit light exclusively downward, bars direct light visible along the property line at a height of greater than five feet, and requires timers or motion sensors.

Section 6.11.4 regulates temporary signs, and item 3 lists holiday decorations (non-commercial wording) or holiday lighting. That item prints no size, permit or removal deadline, unlike its neighbors: construction signs come down immediately upon completion of the work, sale signs within seven days after the closing or the signing of the rent or lease agreement, and grand opening signs are limited to 21 days. The non-commercial wording condition is the line to watch, because a decoration carrying commercial wording falls outside item 3.

Section 6.11.3(7) prohibits strings of light bulbs, banners, pennants, ribbons and streamers on signs and, when not part of any sign, on their own, but the holiday item in 6.11.4 is the specific permission for holiday lighting.