Tis the season for community associations to come alive with lights, decorations, and special events. With some preparation, an HOA holiday can bring together neighbors, friends, and family. Community association leaders should brush up on and, if necessary, refresh their decorating guidelines to ensure a season of cheer for everyone.
Many communities develop a holiday and religious display rule that is easy for residents to follow and simple to enforce. Have a happy HOA holiday with these tips.
Board members
- Ask residents whether they believe your community association would benefit from a rule for holiday and religious displays.
- Consult with your community association manager and attorney if your community decides it would benefit from a rule.
- Make sure your policy is consistent with your association’s governing documents as well as state and local laws.
- Create a holiday and religious display rule only if necessary.
- Include community consensus in the rule. It may contain the start and end dates of when decorations may be displayed, hours when lights and displays in yards or balconies may be on, and specifics regarding size, sounds, and placement.
- Ensure that the policy is clear, enforceable, and reasonable.
- Request feedback from residents throughout the process.
- Communicate new information to all residents after the policy is adopted.
- Remind residents of the rule prior to each holiday season.
- Review your policy regularly and determine if it needs to be updated.
Residents
- Read updates from the community association, attend meetings, and contribute to the conversation.
- Know your community association’s rule before putting up your holiday decorations and religious displays.
- Ask your board for clarification if you have a question about the rule.
- Volunteer on the board or on committees to influence the community’s approach.
- Enjoy your neighbors and your community during the holidays and throughout the year.
If your community needs help crafting a holiday decorating resolution or updating a current one, consider some of the following elements:
Timing: Holiday decorations may be displayed no more than X days before and X days after the actual holiday.
Common areas: A committee will survey residents and determine what holidays will be represented on common areas. Decorations, such as small white lights on trees and menorahs, will be installed by the association. Santa figures, sleighs, reindeer, and Nativity scenes are prohibited on common elements.
Individual properties: Homeowners may install decorations on their properties. Holiday lighting may only be used from sunset to 10 p.m. and must not interfere with a neighbor’s use of his or her property. The decorations must not be offensive or obscene.
Enforcement: Items that do not conform to these guidelines will be removed by the association.
Once the board has approved a holiday policy, make sure your residents are informed of the new rules.
- Post the policy on your community’s website and send an email to residents.
- Pass out copies of the policy door-to-door.
- Publish the policy in your community’s newsletter.
- Include details about the policy in your association’s welcome packets, settlement sheet, and disclosure packets.
Keep in mind that holiday decorating is seasonal; if you approve your policy during the spring or summer, send residents a friendly reminder in the fall. It’s also good to print the information in your newsletter at least once every year so that no one is caught off guard.
Some people also decorate for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Independence Day, and Halloween. Community association leaders should consider whether their decorating guidelines work year round. If interested, adjust your policy to allow pumpkins and goblins to be displayed throughout the month of October, hearts and cupids in February, and so on — within the limits of safety and common sense.
As for your common areas, again, see what your residents think. If they like leprechauns in March and pilgrims and turkeys in November, go for it. But you might want to appoint a decorating committee to handle the workload.
>>Look for another set of HOA holiday tips focused on activities, guests, noise, packages, and parking next week.
Information for this post was compiled from numerous articles in Common Ground magazine.
