Sign Regulations in North Carolina (2026)

North Carolina law permits political signs in state highway rights-of-way during election periods with size and timing…

Cary bans all signs, including political signs, from town-maintained street rights-of-way; a political sign left there…

Charlotte bans any sign, including campaign signs, within 11 feet of a roadway's pavement edge, anywhere in a public…

Asheville allows political campaign signs in every zoning district without a sign permit, but ties them to the election…

Buncombe County's zoning ordinance regulates only commercial/institutional signage, not residential yard signs, so…

Concord treats political campaign signs as Type 1 Freestanding Temporary Signs under CDO Sec. 12.3.3(B): capped at 6…

North Carolina law lets you place political signs in the state highway right-of-way only from 30 days before early…

Durham's UDO lets political and election signs go up in the public right-of-way without a permit, but the (City only)…

Fayetteville regulates campaign signs through content-neutral Type 1 temporary sign standards: six square feet, four…

Under the Forsyth County/Winston-Salem UDO, the base rule limits political signs to two square feet, but Winston-Salem…

Campaign signs count as temporary signs allowed without a permit in every zoning district under Greensboro's Land…

In unincorporated Guilford County, political signs in the State highway right-of-way are governed by NC law. They may…

Political signs in Huntersville are protected under N.C.G.S. 136-32, which authorizes temporary political signs in the…

Political signs are protected on private property and, during elections, in the state road right-of-way. N.C.G.S…

Unincorporated Wayne County allows nonilluminated political campaign signs without a permit, but they cannot go up more…

Brunswick County lets campaign and political signs go up without a permit anywhere in the unincorporated county's…

Harnett County's sign ordinance bans portable signs, including vehicle-displayed signs, county-wide, but carves out an…

Political signs in unincorporated Johnston County cannot go up more than 60 days before an election and must come down…

In unincorporated Union County, temporary campaign and election signs are exempt from the sign permit requirement under…

Political signs in Cornelius are protected by N.C.G.S. §136-32, which allows signs in NCDOT right-of-way from 30 days…

North Carolina law lets political signs sit in the right-of-way of most roads during an election window. Under NCGS…

Matthews permits political signs on private property without permit. N.C.G.S. 136-32 allows political signs in state…

Temporary political signs are excluded from the definition of 'outdoor advertising sign' in Pitt County Planning &…

Political signs in Winston-Salem are regulated under NCGS 136-32 on state and federal rights-of-way and locally under…

Fayetteville requires a permit from the inspection department before any yard sale. Each household may obtain three…

In unincorporated Brunswick County, North Carolina, a yard or garage sale may post one on-premise sign plus up to three…

Buncombe County caps yard sale signs at six square feet, one per lot, under the definitions section of its off-premises…

Concord's Sec. 42-33 requires yard sale signs to follow the city's Concord Development Ordinance sign standards. Under…

North Carolina highway law only authorizes political and farm signs in the state right-of-way, so garage- and yard-sale…

Durham allows one yard sale sign per lot without a permit, capped at four feet in height and six square feet in area…

In Winston-Salem/Forsyth County an on-premises yard or garage sale sign may not exceed two square feet, limited to one…

In unincorporated Guilford County, all signs except State/Federal ones are regulated by the Unified Development…

High Point allows a yard sale up to twice a year, capped at 2 days each, with exactly one announcement sign meeting the…

Nash County limits a yard, attic, lawn or garage sale to two days in any one-year period under UDO § 2-4.203(a); a…

Unincorporated Wayne County allows yard sale signs on or off the premises without a permit, but caps them at three per…

In Apex, non-commercial yard and garage sale signs on residential property are exempt from the town's sign-permit…

Harnett County requires any sign advertising a yard sale to come down once the sale is over, under § 153.114(I)(3) of…

Johnston County exempts yard and garage sale signs from a sign permit, but only within firm limits: four square feet…

Pitt County exempts a temporary sign, the category covering yard sales, farm auctions and similar events, from permit…

Union County has no separate garage-sale or yard-sale sign category. In unincorporated areas, a garage sale sign is…

Durham's UDO allows a yard sale sign without a permit. It may not exceed four square feet in area, is limited to one…

Temporary holiday decorations, banners and special-event signs for religious, charitable, civic or fraternal nonprofits…

Gaston County exempts holiday decorations and displays from the sign permit requirement, but only if they stay up no…

Apex's UDO bans permanent illuminated tubing and string lights on trees, rooflines, and building walls, but carves out…

Cary's Land Development Ordinance excludes holiday and seasonal decorations, including inflatable displays, from sign…

Fayetteville sets no ordinance governing residential holiday decorations, lights, or inflatables. The one…

High Point exempts holiday lights and decorations from the sign permit process altogether. Development Ordinance…

Unincorporated Nash County's sign ordinance bans strings of light bulbs on commercial premises used for commercial…

In unincorporated Union County, temporary holiday light displays are fully exempt from the county's outdoor lighting…

Apex's zoning code bans billboards, exposed LED signs, and changeable-copy signs outright in every zoning district…

Asheville outright bars new digital off-premises signs, the technical name for billboards that aren't advertising the…

The Town of Cary bans off-site billboards, pole signs, and every digital or electronic message sign outright: the…

Johnston County bans changing-message billboards outright: any outdoor advertising sign along U.S. 70 or I-95 that is…

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, billboards are prohibited outright and so are LCD and electronic…

Raleigh bans digital signs almost everywhere, carving out narrow exceptions only for major DX-district venues. UDO Sec…

Electronic message centers, digital display signs and video signs are banned outright in unincorporated Union County…

Off-premises billboards in unincorporated Catawba County may be upgraded to or built with LED technology only in the…

Charlotte allows electronic changeable face outdoor advertising signs only in Manufacturing and Logistics districts and…

Off-premise signs in unincorporated Cleveland County may be lighted or luminous, but the lighting or illumination…

Concord permits an existing static billboard to convert to a digital display face only under CDO Section 12.5.3, and…

Craven County bans animated signs outright, including anything with flashing, scintillating, or moving light, but…

Durham's UDO bans animated, blinking, chasing, flashing or moving-effect signs, the standard for digital billboards and…

Electronic outdoor advertising signs, commonly called digital billboards, need a sign permit and may only go up in the…

High Point confines true digital billboards, what the ordinance calls video signs, to the CB Central Business District…

Digital billboards in Iredell County are confined to the H-B, G-B, M-1, and M-2 districts under Land Development Code…

Onslow County confines outdoor advertising billboards to the RA, HB, L-IN, and H-IN districts, capping them at 450…

Wilmington bans electronic changeable copy signs outright across the Main Street Mixed Use, Riverfront Mixed Use, Mixed…

Off-premises digital billboards in unincorporated Brunswick County must dim automatically with ambient light, freeze on…

Ground-mounted signs in unincorporated Cabarrus County may include a changeable copy or electronic message board face…

In unincorporated Davidson County, off-site outdoor advertising signs (billboards) are capped at 400 square feet per…

Fayetteville confines off-premises billboards, digital or static, to the LI and HI industrial districts, capped at 300…

Gaston County bans flashing and scrolling signs but carves out a narrow exception for LED signs with electronically…

Guilford County lets LED message boards run on permanent signs in every non-residential district, but UDO Subsec. 7.9.B…

Harnett County allows electronic display techniques on outdoor advertising signs in Commercial/Business Districts, but…

Nash County's sign ordinance allows electronic message signs, but only if the display holds each message still for at…

Pitt County's Sign Ordinance carves electronically controlled message signs, the county's term for digital displays…

Rose Hill's sign code bans any sign with an intermittent or flashing light source in every zoning district, but §…

Wake County limits electronic changeable message signs to on-premises use, capping area and message hold time by zoning…

Wayne County's sign ordinance permits automatic changeable facing signs, meaning billboards whose message rotates or…

Apex's Unified Development Ordinance caps window signage at 25% of total window area per facade on non-residential…

Asheville lets businesses post up to 16 square feet of temporary window signage per business with no permit. Go over…

Cabarrus County lets businesses place window signs without a sign permit, but only if the lettering or graphics cover…

The Town of Cary caps window signs at 25 percent of each window pane's glass area on both business and residential…

Charlotte caps window signage at 25% of each window's surface area, rising to 65% for vacant ground-floor commercial…

Concord's Development Ordinance caps window signs at 30% of first-floor glazed frontage in the Center City district and…

Durham caps window signage at 10% of the window area on each building façade. UDO Sec. 11.4.2.Q defines a window sign…

Window wraps and other signs applied to storefront glass count as attached signs under Greensboro's Land Development…

High Point limits window signs at nonresidential properties to 25 percent of any single window or door, or 25 percent…

In Johnston County's OI, GB, CB, I-1, I-2 and IHI zoning districts and shopping centers, window signs can't cover more…

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, window signage cannot cover more than 25% of a building's gross…

Onslow County's Master Sign Plan standard limits window signs to five per tenant, with total window signage capped at…

Store window signs in unincorporated Wayne County are exempt from the sign permit process, but the county caps them at…

Wilmington caps on-premises window signs at 10 percent of a building's ground-floor glassed window area citywide…

Gaston County lets commercial and industrial businesses put up window signs without a zoning permit as long as the…

Guilford County lets businesses display window signs painted on or attached to the inside of the glass without any sign…

Harnett County caps window signs at 25% of a storefront's total window area under § 153.159(G)(10), and compliant…

Raleigh doesn't require a permit for window signs, but UDO Sec. 7.3.7 caps how much glass they can cover: no more than…

Outside downtown, Fayetteville lets a business cover 100 percent of its glazed window and glass-door area with signage…

Apex's Unified Development Ordinance prohibits billboards, pole signs, and other off-premise advertising in every…

Asheville bans new off-premises billboards within 660 feet of the interstate and federal-aid highway right-of-way if…

Off-premise signs, the billboard category advertising something not located on the site, are flatly prohibited…

Pitt County's Outdoor Advertising Sign Ordinance flatly prohibits outdoor advertising signs, commonly called…

Concord allows larger billboards along Interstate 85 than anywhere else in the city. Off-premise outdoor advertising…

Fayetteville's Coliseum Tourism Overlay District confines billboards to the right-of-way of full-control or…

Harnett County caps outdoor advertising signs along interstate highways at 500 square feet of display area, 35 feet in…

Outdoor advertising signs in Johnston County are permitted only along U.S. 70, excluding the Clayton bypass segment…

In unincorporated Union County, off-premise signs, the freeway billboards along local highways, are allowed only in the…

Wayne County's outdoor advertising ordinance says its purpose is to bar billboards along freeways in the unincorporated…

Outdoor advertising structures facing Brunswick County's busiest highways get the largest sign allowance in the…

In unincorporated Cleveland County outside municipal zoning jurisdiction, off-premise signs need a sign permit from the…

Off-premises billboards visible from Craven County roads cannot exceed 378 square feet per face or 40 feet in height…

Outdoor advertising signs facing an Interstate highway get extra height and faster message-change allowances under…

Guilford County only allows off-premise billboards in HB, LI, HI and Urban Loop Scenic Corridor districts, and UDO…

Billboards in unincorporated Nash County that face federal-aid highways such as I-95, US 64, US 264 and US 301 are…

In Rose Hill's HB-2 Highway Business District, a business wall sign that fronts on and runs parallel with Interstate 40…