Prince George's County, MD Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)

Under the Zoning Ordinance's sign-permit exemption list, Section 27-61502(c) lets homeowners and businesses put up "temporary string lighting and displays as part of customary holiday decorations and civic events" without going through the Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement (DPIE) sign-permit process, but four conditions apply. First, the lighting and displays cannot go up in a public right-of-way unless mounted at least 15 feet above street level and authorized by whoever maintains that street. Second, everything must come down once the specific holiday or civic-event period ends; there is no year-round grace period.

Third, temporary string lighting may only be affixed to buildings and landscaping, and it cannot strobe, flash, or blink faster than every 30 seconds, a restriction aimed at the same animated-illumination problem the county polices for commercial signs. Fourth, and most concretely, the lighting and displays cannot stay up for more than 45 days per holiday or civic event, so a homeowner who strings lights on a house has a hard, county-wide 45-day clock from setup to teardown regardless of which holiday triggers it. This sits inside the broader Section 27-61502 exemption list (Certified under CB-015-2024) that also covers yard-sale signs, real estate signs, and sandwich boards, all of which skip the permit step but stay subject to the underlying standards.

Outside these four conditions, a holiday display that functions like advertising or stays up indefinitely loses the exemption and becomes a regular sign subject to Section 27-61503's prohibition on unpermitted, non-exempt signage and Table 27-61505's area and height limits for its zone.