Effingham County, GA Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Article XIII of the Zoning Ordinance, adopted by Ord. No. 2024-673 effective January 7, 2025, governs signs, billboards, and interstate signs in unincorporated Effingham County. Section 13.7 lists the categories of signs exempt from regulation: governmental agency signs, property addresses up to 12 inches in height, incidental signs of one square foot or less, political and election signs, and realtor signs, with the last two categories cross-referenced back to § 13.2. That cross-reference matters because § 13.2(C) sets the actual permitting mechanic for those categories: all signs on commercial or industrial property need a sign permit issued by the Effingham County Zoning Department, but multiple similar signs, such as real estate signs or political signs, are only required to obtain a single shared permit rather than one permit per sign.

In practice, that means a homeowner or campaign placing several yard signs of the same type on a single property is not filing a separate application for each sign, and the exemption in § 13.7 spares political and election signs from the substantive size, spacing, and design standards that apply to permanent commercial signage elsewhere in Article XIII. All signs, including exempt categories, must still meet wind load and building-code requirements under § 13.2(C) and stay out of the state or county right-of-way under § 13.8(A).