Upper Darby, PA Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

Political signs fall under Article XI's list of signs for which a permit is not required, § 550-37F. Item (12) groups political signs together with educational, charitable, civic and religious campaign or event signs, exempting all of them from the sign-permit process required for the commercial and residential sign categories in § 550-37G. Unlike several of its neighbors on the exempt list, such as real estate signs capped at six square feet under § 550-37F(6) or yard-sale signs capped at two square feet under § 550-37F(11), the political-sign exemption sets no numeric size or duration cap while the campaign or event is ongoing.

The only affirmative obligation the code places on the sign owner is timing: the sign must be removed immediately after the completion of the campaign or event it advertises. Exempt signs remain subject to § 550-35, Applicability and intent, and to § 550-37A's rules for computing sign area, and placement is still constrained by the chapter's general setback rule barring signs within five feet of a street right-of-way absent a specific exception. A political sign left standing well after an election or event no longer qualifies for the § 550-37F(12) exemption and becomes a zoning violation enforceable by the Zoning Officer under § 550-53.