Sign Regulations in Virginia (2026)

Virginia state law creates a 40-foot prohibited area around polling place entrances on election day where political…

Chesterfield cannot ban political campaign signs on private property if they follow the same rules as temporary…

In Henrico County's residential and agricultural districts, temporary noncommercial signs (including political signs)…

Loudoun County zones political yard signs as Temporary Signs, and the Zoning Ordinance requires a Sign Permit before…

In Montgomery County outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg, campaign and political signs fall under the countywide…

Albemarle County treats a yard sign backing a candidate or a ballot question as a temporary noncommercial sign: it…

In Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, a temporary sign, the category covering campaign…

Lynchburg lets any property owner display political signs promoting a candidate or ballot issue in every zoning…

Any sign placed in a Norfolk right-of-way, political or otherwise, technically needs council authorization under §…

Virginia Beach treats political signs as content-neutral temporary signs, capped at 16 or 32 square feet total per lot…

Richmond allows political signs on private property with owner consent. Under Reed v. Town of Gilbert content-neutral…

Suffolk regulates political signs as content-neutral temporary yard signs with no permit. In residential districts a…

Virginia law prohibits all signs, including garage sale and yard sale notices, placed within the limits of any state…

For a sale of three or fewer days in a residential district, Chesterfield allows up to six off-site signs, each no…

Henrico County lets a lot post up to two non-illuminated signs, each no larger than 1 square foot or 4 feet tall…

Garage sale signs in unincorporated Loudoun County fall under the Zoning Ordinance's Temporary Sign standard, Section…

Lynchburg's Zoning Ordinance limits a yard sale to a single on-site sign of three square feet or less, which must come…

Newport News requires a $5 chief-of-police permit before any garage, yard or backyard sale, and Section 37-2(c)…

Norfolk bans garage-sale signs on streets, sidewalks, or any public right-of-way; only one on-premises sign is allowed…

Suffolk treats garage-sale signs as temporary yard signs: no permit needed, up to 8 square feet and 4 feet tall on…

In Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, a garage-sale sign counts as a temporary sign…

Roanoke caps holiday decorations on city-owned poles, light standards or trees at two weeks, except Thanksgiving…

Albemarle County exempts holiday decorative lighting from its outdoor lighting standards under Sec. 4.17.6(b), but only…

Hanover County's Zoning Ordinance lets the Zoning Administrator issue a temporary permit for holiday decorative…

Spotsylvania County's outdoor lighting ordinance exempts holiday decorative lighting from its commercial lighting…

Stafford County's zoning ordinance defines a "holiday display" as a seasonal display marking a religious, national or…

Fairfax County's zoning code excludes temporary, seasonal decorations from the definition of a sign entirely, so…

In Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, the Zoning Ordinance's outdoor lighting…

Loudoun County exempts temporary seasonal and holiday lighting outright from its outdoor Light and Glare standards, so…

Temporary holiday decorations that don't carry a commercial message fall entirely outside Newport News's sign code, so…

Virginia Beach's outdoor lighting ordinance exempts temporary seasonal lighting outright, so holiday displays skip the…

Billboards are banned outright in every zoning district in Albemarle County outside Charlottesville and Scottsville…

Alexandria's Zoning Ordinance bans billboards outright under Sec. 9-203(K): any single panel sign larger than 100…

Spotsylvania County bans digital and electronic signs that flash, blink or run animated presentations under Sec…

Virginia Beach's zoning ordinance bans electronic display signs citywide, with narrow exceptions for gas station…

Hampton bans changeable electronic message signs outright in its FM zoning district (the city-zoned Fort Monroe land)…

Hanover County's Zoning Ordinance regulates LED and LCD message panels on 'destination commerce signs' near Interstate…

Loudoun County bans stand-alone off-premise signs outright under Zoning Ordinance Section 8.03.A.2, so third-party…

Outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Sec 10-45 treats the electronic message sign as its own permanent sign type…

Portsmouth caps automatic changeable copy and LED signs at 1,500 nits during daylight and 150 nits at all other times…

Prince William County allows electronic message board signs only with a Special Use Permit or rezoning/proffer…

Digital and off-premises billboards are banned everywhere in Richmond except the B-3 General Business District, where…

Roanoke County allows changeable-message tri-vision billboard faces only on existing or replacement off-premises signs…

Stafford County's Zoning Ordinance bans electronic message center signs countywide under section 28-122(2)(b), one of…

Fairfax County allows one changeable-copy or electronic display sign per lot, capped at 50 percent of the freestanding…

In Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, an electronic message sign is allowed in every…

Lynchburg allows commercial electronic billboards by right in its I-2 and I-3 industrial districts, and lets an…

Newport News allows one freestanding electronic display sign per commercial or industrial site, capped at 32 square…

Roanoke caps electronic readerboard signs at 40 percent of the total sign area they're attached to, limits them to 25…

Alexandria caps window signage on commercial, mixed-use, and larger multi-unit properties at 20 percent of the glazing…

Nonresidential window signs in Fairfax County cannot cover more than 30 percent of a window's total area, and only one…

In unincorporated Loudoun County, window signs are allowed in addition to wall signs, but only on the first story or…

Lynchburg regulates storefront window signs through its Zoning Ordinance rather than a stand-alone sign-area cap: under…

In Montgomery County outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg, a window sign needs no sign permit as long as it covers no…

Commercial window signs in Newport News can cover up to 25% of each window opening without a permit, but must sit on…

Richmond caps window and door signage at 25 percent of the glass. Any window sign or combination of signs whose…

Roanoke limits window signage to fifty percent of the glass area it covers under City Code Section 36.2-671(b). Any…

Show-window signs in Spotsylvania County's office, commercial and industrial districts do not need a sign permit, but…

Stafford County's Zoning Ordinance caps opaque window signage at 25 percent of the window area under section…

In Virginia Beach's Town Center core, window signs can't cover more than 10% of a storefront's total window area, and…

Window signs in Albemarle County outside Charlottesville and Scottsville don't need a sign permit as long as the total…

Hampton exempts window signs from sign-permit regulation as long as they cover no more than 33% of the window area…

Portsmouth limits window signs on any floor of a building to 20 percent of the window facade area, and bars…

Prince William County caps window signs at 25 percent of each window or glass door's area in commercial, office and…

A sign visible from Interstate 64 or another designated Entrance Corridor street in Albemarle County outside…

Alexandria bans illuminated wall signs taller than 35 feet above grade on any building that faces the George Washington…

Hanover County's Zoning Ordinance treats most signs visible from Interstate highways as a special exception rather than…

In Montgomery County outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg, a business within a quarter mile of an interstate ramp can…

Within 660 feet of any interstate right-of-way in Portsmouth, only official, on-premises and specific…

Roanoke bans new outdoor advertising signs, billboards, within two hundred fifty feet of the right-of-way of I-581 and…

In Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, businesses near an interstate interchange can…

Commercial properties near an interstate interchange in Hampton can add one extra freestanding sign up to 45 feet tall…

A billboard within 300 feet of a limited-access highway's centerline that is readable from the road must sit at least…

Freestanding sign height in Spotsylvania County depends on how close the lot sits to an Interstate 95 interchange. Sec…

Billboards and other outdoor advertising signs must sit at least 500 feet from any interstate or expressway interchange…