Journal
Getting holiday lighting past a South Florida HOA
Most South Florida HOA lighting disputes are not about lighting. They are about color, install dates, and visible hardware. Handle those three in advance and approval is usually routine.
Last updated |6 minute read
Color is the first rule to check
Restricted communities in Parkland, Boca Raton, and Weston commonly limit exterior holiday lighting to warm white or pure white. Multicolor is the most frequent rejection.
We default to a single consistent white across the roofline in those communities and put the color, if any, into elements that are not visible from the street.
Install and removal windows
Many documents allow display from the week before Thanksgiving through mid-January. Our schedule is built around that: installs begin in early November and takedown starts January 2.
Halloween lighting comes down before Thanksgiving week for the same reason.
Visible hardware and line height
Boards object to inconsistent line heights, cords crossing a facade, and timers or transformers visible from the sidewalk. We run a single line height per elevation, hide feeds behind downspouts and inside the shadow line, and keep transformers out of street sightlines.
Extension cords draped across the front of a house is the fastest way to a violation letter.
Permanent systems and board review
Permanent track passes review in most communities because it is concealed under the eave and reads as nothing in daylight. What boards want to see is a daylight photo and a spec sheet, not a rendering.
We supply both for board packets, along with the color-temperature range and the fact that the system can be locked to white only if the community requires it.
If you are on the board
We quote entry features, guardhouses, monument signage, and common area landscape lighting as commercial work, with a single point of contact and one invoice.
Communities that light their own entry consistently get far fewer resident complaints about individual displays.