Sign Regulations in Massachusetts (2026)

Lynn bans political signs in residential areas outright: no lawns, houses, public buildings, trees, or poles, under…

Political signs in Boston are regulated under the city's sign ordinance and zoning code. The city cannot ban political…

Political and campaign signs get one break in Brockton's sign code: portable and standing versions announcing any…

Fall River allows political signs only with the property owner's consent, permits display for eight weeks before an…

Towns, not Plymouth County, regulate signs, through zoning bylaws authorized by MGL c.40A. Those bylaws must stay…

Revere's sign code bans posting or affixing any notice, sign, advertisement or bill, political material included, to a…

Cambridge exempts political signs from a sign permit as a temporary noncommercial sign, but caps them at 20 square feet…

Taunton exempts political signs from its sign-permit requirement citywide under § 440-706C(1)(j), with no size or…

Political signs allowed on private property in Bristol County under First Amendment and Reed v. Town of Gilbert. MGL…

Norfolk County has no political sign rule. Under MGL c. 40 §21(19), MA towns may regulate temporary political signs but…

Somerville allows political signs on private property with owner consent during election seasons. Content-neutral size…

Springfield allows political signs on private property with size limits. Signs in public rights-of-way are typically…

Waltham allows temporary political signs on private property with owner permission. Size and placement must not…

Chelsea treats a yard or garage sale sign as a temporary sign under Code of Ordinances § 34-109(i): it must come down…

Lynn's sign ordinance bans portable signs citywide and provides no garage-sale-sign exception. The wire-frame…

Revere bans posting garage and yard sale signs on public property, trees, and light or telephone poles, and the free…

Somerville exempts yard sale and garage sale signs from its commercial sign rules entirely. Zoning Ordinance…

In Residence C-1 districts, Cambridge's Zoning Ordinance bars outdoor floodlighting or decorative lighting outright…

Lynn's sign ordinance bans string lights on commercial premises outright, but Section 4:00.B carves out an exception…

Taunton exempts holiday lights and decorations from its sign permit requirement, but only if they carry no commercial…

Leominster exempts holiday decorations and lights 'when in season' from the city's sign permit requirement entirely…

Springfield's sign ordinance bans pennants, streamers, balloons and decorative string lights citywide, but exempts…

New Bedford prohibits the construction of any new off-premise sign, including billboards, electronic signs, digital…

Newton bans any sign with moving parts or flashing, blinking lights that create an animated effect, ruling out digital…

Quincy bans construction of all new off-premises signs, including billboards, anywhere in the city: the Zoning…

Digital and electronic billboards are banned outright in Somerville. Zoning Ordinance §10.8.5(a)(i) prohibits any…

Digital and electronic billboards are forbidden across Boston except as a Board of Appeal conditional use in three…

Digital billboards, called 'Electronic Advertising Boards' in Brockton's code, are allowed only along the Route 24…

Digital/electronic signs in Fall River are allowed only in specific commercial districts, must change images no more…

Lynn's sign ordinance bans any sign with flashing, moving, or intermittent lighting citywide, the rule that keeps…

Revere bans digital signs outright in every residential, general business, downtown and industrial district, reserving…

Digital non-accessory signs (billboards) in Springfield need a Tier 3 special permit, are limited to Business B and…

Leominster allows electronic message boards only in nonresidential zoning districts, and caps the changeable display…

Taunton limits electronic message signs under City Code § 440-706E(2): LED and other changeable-face signs may show…

Outside residential districts, Boston caps window signage under Zoning Code Article 11, Section 11-2(c) and (f). A…

Temporary window signs advertising a sale or special event can cover up to 30 percent of a Brockton storefront's…

In Chelsea's Retail Business (BR and BR2) Districts, window and door graphics cannot cover more than 15 percent of the…

Leominster caps window signs at twenty percent of a window's area under Sec. 22-70.1.5 of the zoning ordinance. The…

Lynn's sign ordinance caps permanent window signs at 25 percent of the window area visible from outside a building, and…

Newton caps window signage at 25 percent of a window's area. Any window sign larger than that is a prohibited sign…

Temporary signs in Quincy storefront windows may cover no more than 15% of the window's total glass area, and only one…

Revere caps window signage at thirty-five percent of the glass area per window. Section 17.36.070 permits signs painted…

Window signs on Somerville commercial buildings are capped at 20% of total window glass area. Zoning Ordinance…

Window signs in Springfield's commercial and industrial districts can cover up to 50% of a window without a sign…

Taunton caps how much of a storefront window can be covered by permanent signage. Under City Code § 440-706E(5), a…

Fall River's sign code recognizes 'window sign' only as a permanent, nonilluminated sign painted directly onto the…

New Bedford's Zoning Ordinance defines "sign" broadly enough to reach electric displays in windows and doors, but…

Newton bans every non-accessory sign citywide, a category the zoning ordinance defines to include billboards and other…

Electronic Advertising Boards, Brockton's digital billboards, are allowed only on C-2, I-2 and I-3 parcels that…

Ground signs next to the elevated stretch of Interstate 91 through downtown Springfield face a special height cap…