Escondido, CA Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Municipal Code Sec. 33-1397 governs temporary signage on private property tied to any local, state, regional or national official election. The window runs from 30 days before the election through 10 days after, and within it property owners may post an unlimited number of temporary signs so long as each one stays at or under 16 square feet of sign area and, if freestanding, no taller than 8 feet from finished grade. No sign permit is required for this temporary election signage. The ordinance protects noncommercial speech directly: signage placed under Sec.

33-1397 may carry any form of noncommercial signage, which covers campaign and issue signs, but any sign type barred citywide under Sec. 33-1393(b) is still expressly prohibited even during the election window. Placement is not unrestricted, however. Temporary signs cannot obstruct the vehicle sight distance area at intersections and driveways: at driveways the code requires at least 10 feet of clearance on each side and 10 feet from the sidewalk (or 15 feet from the curb or pavement edge), and at unsignalized corners it defines a sight triangle measured 25 feet along the street frontage from each curb return point.

Any sign over 3 feet above curb grade, or with a support pole thicker than 12 inches in diameter, that sits inside that clear-view area must be reviewed and approved by the city's engineering division before installation. Enforcement runs through Sec. 33-1398, the article's general sign penalty section, which applies to any violation of the sign article, including Sec. 33-1397.