Apex, NC Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Sign regulation in Apex sits in UDO Article 8, Section 8.7, administered by the Apex Planning Department (919-249-3418). The UDO opens with a content-neutral rule: any sign permitted by Section 8.7 may display or publish a non-commercial message (Sec. 8.7.1). The exemptions list at the end of Sec. 8.7.1 explicitly states that 'Non-commercial signs on a residential property' are exempt from the Section 8.7 standards — meaning a homeowner's yard sign for a candidate, cause, or political party is not regulated by the Town as to size or number. For non-residential property, on-premise non-commercial temporary signs (UDO 8.7.1.B) are limited to one per site, 16 square feet and four feet in height if freestanding (32 sq ft if affixed to the building), with the sign permit limited to 60 days. Such signs must be on private property with the owner's written permission. The Town's Temporary Sign Permit application sets the fee at $0 for non-commercial temporary signs (commercial temporary signs are $50). Section 8.7.2 expressly prohibits 'Commercial and non-commercial signs within the public right-of-way with the exception of those permitted by NCGS 136-32 or unless specifically authorized elsewhere in this Section,' and bans signs in the required sight triangle. NCGS 136-32 is the state preemption statute that authorizes political signs in the right-of-way of state-system roads (not interstates) between 30 days before the start of one-stop early voting and 10 days after Election Day, with size capped at 864 square inches (6 sq ft), height capped at 42 inches above street pavement, and consent of any abutting property owner required. NCGS 136-32 enforcement is by the NC Department of Transportation, not the Town. Signs are also prohibited on trees and utility poles under Sec. 8.7.2 (portable signs and various attaching prohibitions) and may not be illuminated to create glare onto residential premises (Sec. 8.7.6). Reed v. Town of Gilbert (576 U.S. 155 (2015)) requires that any sign rule applied to political messages be content-neutral — Apex's rules are written to that standard.