Jefferson County, AL Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Jefferson County regulates signage through Article 14 of its Zoning Resolution (adopted August 27, 1992, amended most recently October 9, 2025). S. 09, 'Regulations, Requirements and Procedures Regarding Signs,' first requires a Sign Permit from the Department of Development Services for any sign 'subject to regulation by this Resolution,' backed by the fee schedule in Article 18. ' The same list separately exempts government and traffic-control signs, works of art, and signs carried by a person, so the county treats seasonal lighting the same way it treats other non-commercial, non-permanent displays.

This exemption is geographically limited: it lives inside the Highway 280 Corridor's own sign article, which under Section 1502's opening paragraph controls 'building or land planning in the designated Highway Corridor' and prevails over conflicting general provisions only there. Elsewhere in unincorporated Jefferson County, Article 14's countywide sign rules in Section 1403 list a different, shorter set of exempt signs, addresses, small directional signs, fuel-pump logos, window displays, construction signs and human-carried signs, and do not mention holiday lighting, so a holiday display large or permanent enough to function as commercial signage outside the Highway 280 Corridor is evaluated under the general permit rules of Section 1401 rather than any holiday-specific carve-out.