The Aug. 25 code update restricted new and replaced outdoor fixtures to 3,000 Kelvin or less and required them to be fully shielded, with exceptions made for holiday lights, outdoor sports facilities and other temporary lighting. The new code also removed previous language banning holiday lighting outside of November, December and January, and levied a 10 p.m. curfew on holiday lighting, to be enforced on a complaint basis. 

The council voted Tuesday to remove the 10 p.m. curfew and considered reimplementing date-based restrictions before deciding to keep holiday lights allowed year-round. 

The official code now allows holiday lighting, “including but not limited to internally illuminated decorations, string lights and string light displays.” Lighting may not create a dangerous glare on other adjacent streets or properties. 

“We should probably drop the 10 p.m. nightly thing for a couple of reasons,” Councilwoman Rachel Whipple said. “One is practicality. We don’t have zoning enforcement officers working at 10 p.m. The second is if you do have a Fourth of July display, it’s not getting dark until almost 10 o’clock, so you don’t get any benefit from it.”

A proposed revision by city staff would have allowed holiday lights only from October, November, December and January, and June 15 through July 25. A resident in the public comment period asked for lights to be allowed at Easter, and the conversation progressed from there to not defining a specific holiday season. 

“It’s a line-drawing exercise, and every time we draw the line somewhere, there’s going to be pushback about that being the right place for the line,” Councilman Gary Garrett said.