City Reminds Downtown: Nights of Lights Means White Lights Only, No Inflatables

Downtown property owners are getting a formal reminder this holiday season: white lights only, and no inflatable snowmen. The St. Augustine City Commission approved a new one-page guidelines flyer Monday, Sept. 14, spelling out the rules for holiday lighting in the city's historic preservation districts, ahead of the 2026-2027 Nights of Lights season.

The flyer isn't a new law. It's a plain-language cheat sheet for an existing city code that some downtown businesses have been quietly ignoring, stringing up brighter, flashier, more colorful displays than the ordinance allows.

City Code Sec. 3-23(e)(6) requires commercial and institutional properties in the historic districts to use white or clear C-7 long-life bulbs, nickel-backed, on 18-2 gauge commercial-grade line in green or white. Colored lights, bright-white LEDs, and anything animated, flashing or moving are prohibited. So are inflatable, mechanical, cartoon-character or figurine decorations, the plastic snow globes and light-up reindeer some property owners have started putting out.

Communications Director Melissa Wisseld told local media the flyer doesn't change any rule. It's outreach, aimed at property owners who may not know, or have forgotten, what's actually allowed under the code that has governed the display for decades.

Why the crackdown now

Nights of Lights has drawn residents and tourists downtown every winter for more than 30 years, built around a deliberately simple, historic look: small white lights outlining windows, doorways, rooftops and archways, wrapped around pillars and tree trunks. City officials say a growing number of downtown businesses have started pushing past that look with bigger, brighter and more colorful setups, chipping away at the uniform appearance that made the display a signature draw in the first place.

The rule applies specifically to commercial and institutional properties inside the city's historic preservation districts, the downtown blocks where Nights of Lights is centered. Floodlights and spotlights have to be aimed away from neighboring property, sidewalks and drivers, and displays can't spell out words or form patterns on vertical surfaces. The idea, according to the city's own guidance, is to keep decorations "simple and architectural in character."

The city has posted a printable version of the flyer, along with the full code language, on its website for property owners who want to check their plans before they climb a ladder.

What happens if you don't comply

The flyer frames the rules as guidance rather than a new enforcement push, but the underlying code has teeth: lights, figurines and other attention-getting displays are regulated as advertisement under city code, meaning violations can be treated the same way as an illegal sign. The city says anyone unsure whether a planned display qualifies should check with staff before installing it.

Nights of Lights officially runs from the first Saturday of November through the first Sunday of February, unless the City Commission votes to shorten or extend it by resolution, something commissioners have debated in the past year. For now, downtown property owners have about six weeks before the season begins to get their displays in line with the code.

Want to keep up with how this plays out downtown? Visit the St. Augustine Community Website for ongoing coverage, join the conversation in our Community Forum, and check out more government and politics stories or local events coverage as the holiday season approaches.

Header photo: Photo: Roy Serafin (Pexels)