Vallejo, CA Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Vallejo regulates holiday displays through two different chapters. The lighting and glare chapter exempts Holiday Lights from the chapter's outdoor lighting standards, but only for a defined season and under a wattage cap: Section 16.506.02.A.2 exempts holiday lighting from October 30th to February 1st, provided that no individual lamp exceeds ten watts and seventy lumens, and prohibits flashing holiday lights on commercial properties. Outside that roughly three-month window, or above the ten-watt/seventy-lumen per-lamp threshold, holiday lighting loses its exemption and must instead comply with the chapter's general standards, including the height limits in Section 16.506.04.C (17 feet in residential districts) and the shielding and glare rules in Section 16.506.04.I.

Separately, Section 16.509.03.M exempts Seasonal Decorations on Private Property from needing a sign permit at all, covering seasonal and holiday decorations and displays such as those related to Thanksgiving or the 4th of July, but excluding advertising signs disguised as seasonal decorations. That exemption covers physical decorations, not just lights, but draws a line at anything that functions as an advertising sign dressed up as a decoration, which still needs a sign permit under the rest of Chapter 16.509. The two exemptions work independently: a residential property can run string lights from October 30 through February 1 at up to 70 lumens per lamp without violating the lighting chapter, and hang a wreath or inflatable decoration year-round for Thanksgiving or July 4th without a sign permit, but a commercial property that lets its holiday lights flash, or that keeps display lighting up outside the exempt season, falls back under the standard permit and shielding requirements of Chapter 16.506.