Chapel Hill, NC Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Section 5.14.4(j) treats political signs differently depending on where they sit. On private property, a sign advertising a candidate or election issue is exempt from the sign permit otherwise required under Sec. 5.14.2, so long as it stays at or under 4 square feet per display surface and comes down within 10 days after the primary or general election. In the public right-of-way, the exemption runs on a tighter clock: signs cannot go up earlier than 30 days before the start of one-stop early voting under G.S.

163-227.2, and must come down by the 10th day after the election. Any right-of-way sign left up more than 30 days past that deadline is declared unlawfully placed and abandoned property, and any person may remove and dispose of it without penalty; the NC Department of Transportation may also remove signs erected without authority or left up past the deadline. Six placement rules govern every right-of-way political sign: the sign's permittee must first get permission from the owner of any residence, business, or religious institution fronting the right-of-way where it goes; no sign is allowed in the right-of-way of a fully controlled access highway; no sign may block a motorist's view at an intersection; no sign may stand taller than 42 inches above the edge of the pavement; no sign may exceed 18 by 24 inches; and no sign may obscure or replace another sign. A sign that fails any of these six conditions is not covered by the Sec. 5.14.4(j) exemption.