Reading, PA Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Three layers regulate political signs in Reading. First, the constitutional framework: the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 576 U.S. 155 (2015) struck down Gilbert, Arizona's sign code as a content-based regulation, holding that any regulation distinguishing among temporary signs based on subject matter (political vs. ideological vs. directional) is subject to strict scrutiny under the First Amendment and is presumptively unconstitutional. After Reed, Pennsylvania municipal sign codes - including Reading's - cannot impose stricter size, duration, or placement limits on political signs than on other temporary signs of the same category; the rules must be content-neutral. Reading's sign provisions in the zoning ordinance (codified in the Reading City Code at ecode360.com/RE1294) have been updated to apply uniform temporary-sign limits across all content types, typically capping temporary sign area at a defined square footage per sign and per parcel (commonly 6 sq ft for residential and 32 sq ft for commercial parcels), prohibiting signs in the public right-of-way, requiring removal within a specified period after the sign's underlying event or purpose ends (often 10 to 15 days post-election for political signs, applied content-neutrally to all temporary signs), and prohibiting illumination of certain temporary signs. Second, state-highway right-of-way: PennDOT under 67 Pa. Code Chapter 445 prohibits unauthorized signs in the right-of-way of any state highway in Pennsylvania, including the portions of US 222 (Lancaster Avenue corridor), US 422 (Penn Street corridor), PA 12 (the Warren Street Bypass), and PA 61 (Centre Avenue corridor) that pass through Reading. The right-of-way prohibition is content-neutral and applies to political signs in the same way as commercial or other signs; PennDOT or its contractors remove unauthorized right-of-way signs without notice. Third, election-day buffer: the Pennsylvania Election Code at 25 P.S. §3060(c) and related sections prohibit campaign activity and political signs within a defined buffer (commonly 10 feet) of the entrance to a polling place on Election Day; this restriction is content-based but has been upheld as a narrow polling-place-integrity rule consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's analysis in Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky, 585 U.S. 1 (2018). Reading and Berks County Board of Elections coordinate enforcement at polling places. The Reading City Code does not impose a separate residential-yard-sign permit requirement for political signs; permits are required for off-premise commercial signage and certain larger temporary signs.