Lafayette Campaign Sign Rules: What’s Legal and What Isn’t Before Nov. 3

LAFAYETTE, La. — Campaign signs are starting to appear across Lafayette Parish ahead of the Nov. 3 election, and Lafayette Consolidated Government wants candidates and property owners to know where those signs can legally go before they start planting stakes.

Temporary campaign signs became allowed under the Lafayette Development Code on Aug. 5, exactly 90 days before the general election. That timing isn’t arbitrary. LCG’s sign ordinance treats campaign signs as a category of “one-time event” sign, and the code caps how early those signs can go up at 90 days before the event they’re promoting, with removal required within 10 days after.

Get our free mobile app

Private Property Only, With Permission

The rules are straightforward on paper but easy to get wrong in practice. Signs are allowed only on private property, and only with the property owner’s permission. They cannot go up in public rights-of-way, which covers more ground than most people realize: road shoulders, medians, drainage servitudes and other publicly maintained strips along a street.

That last part trips up a lot of candidates and volunteers. A yard that looks like private property right up to the road often isn’t. Rights-of-way can extend well past the edge of the pavement, often covering a strip of what looks like someone’s front lawn. LCG is advising campaigns to confirm a sign sits entirely on private property before it goes in the ground, not after someone complains.

Size Limits Depend on Zoning

The Development Code also caps how much total temporary signage a single property can carry, and the limit changes depending on how that property is zoned.

In residential single-family and residential mixed districts, all the temporary signs on one property combined can’t add up to more than 12 square feet. That’s a real constraint for a yard that wants to host several candidates at once. In every other zoning district, commercial and otherwise, the combined limit jumps to 32 square feet.

Both limits are enforced by LCG’s Compliance Division under the same section of the code, Section 89-90(k), that sets the placement rules.

What Happens When a Sign Breaks the Rules

LCG doesn’t pull a noncompliant sign the moment it’s spotted. The process starts with a notice, and campaigns get a chance to fix the problem first.

If a sign turns up in a public right-of-way, the campaign gets notified and has seven days to move it onto private property or take it down. If it’s still there after a week, the Compliance Division can remove it and hold it for up to 30 days, giving the campaign a window to retrieve it before it’s disposed of.

Signs on private property that exceed the square-footage cap get the same seven-day notice to fix the problem. If the violation isn’t corrected, it can escalate to an administrative hearing.

Residents who spot a sign they believe violates the rules can report it through LCG’s MGO Connect Portal or by calling Lafayette 311.

The Deadline After Election Day

The clock doesn’t stop once the votes are counted. Every campaign sign placed under this year’s rules has to come down within 10 days of the Nov. 3 election, regardless of the outcome.

For candidates and campaign volunteers, that means the signs going up this month already have a removal date attached. LCG’s Compliance Division is enforcing both the placement rules and the takedown deadline.

Previously...

• Political Signs Dot Lafayette Well In Advance Of Legal Limit