Cowlitz County, WA Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

568, regulate number, area, height, setback, illumination and construction for signs in that district, but subsection B lists ten categories of signs exempt from those standards altogether. Paragraph 8 covers temporary signs endorsing political candidates or ballot propositions, along with signs advertising fairs, rodeos or similar temporary activities: these are allowed without meeting the district's general number and area limits, so long as each sign does not exceed 32 square feet and is removed within 15 days after the campaign, election or activity it supports ends.

That treats political signage the same way as fair and rodeo advertising rather than as a permanent business identification sign, which elsewhere in the same section is capped much more tightly, at roughly 10 percent of a building's front face or a 35-square-foot minimum. 568 is written for the AG-I zone, this exemption is confirmed to apply to AG-I properties in unincorporated Cowlitz County; it sits alongside other exempt categories such as official public notices, government and institutional flags, real estate signs capped at six square feet, and temporary agricultural directional signs, all of which subsection B pulls out of the standard sign review that otherwise applies to AG-I development.