Charlotte, NC Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

City Code Sec. 10-141 governs signs within public rights-of-way and on public property, and it names political signs specifically in its liability provision. Subsection (a) bars attaching, placing, painting or pasting any sign within 11 feet of the edge of pavement of a roadway or alley; subsection (b) separately bars any sign anywhere within a public right-of-way, a broader zone than the 11-foot strip; subsection (c) bars mounting a sign on a post, pole, tree, tree stake, shrub or fire hydrant; and subsection (d) extends the 11-foot buffer to bridges, overpasses and public property such as traffic medians.

A short list of exceptions in subsection (e) covers traffic-control signs, legally required signs, warning and no-trespassing signs, transit signage, small parking-directional signs, government-authorized signs and state-permitted highway signs, but campaign signs are not among them. 00 civil penalty per sign, the same per-sign rate applied to ballot-measure sign sponsors and ordinary advertising signs under the rest of subsection (f). A candidate can shift responsibility only by notifying code enforcement of another responsible party, with that party's signed consent, within seven calendar days of the notice of assessment.

Subsection (e)(10) confirms that removing an illegally placed sign is not itself a violation, so the city or a private party can pull down a noncompliant campaign sign without exposure. Enforcement of Sec. S. 14-4, and the section was last amended by Ord. No. 1033 on 10-27-2025.