Let there be light: Christmas display curfew shot down by District of North Vancouver

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Festive lights will be allowed to shine all night in the District of North Vancouver this holiday season.

A motion that would have seen a curfew imposed on Christmas lights, requiring them to be turned off at 11 p.m., was met with swift backlash.

At Monday night’s meeting, Coun. Jim Hanson welcomed the decision to strike down the proposal.

“There is no public support for the idea of regulating people’s usage of Christmas lights,” he said.

Lights on: @NVanDistrict proposal to dim Christmas displays at night has been struck. @CityNewsVAN @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/z3ULT3Z9MJ

— Ashley Burr (@AshleyBurr_) November 24, 2020

Changes were proposed to be made to the Nuisance Abatement Bylaw, such that one section is deleted and substituted by “Christmas or holiday lights between November 15 and January 15, Halloween lights between October 1 and November 7, provided such lighting is turned off by 11:00 p.m. each day and remains off overnight until the following day.”

Under the bylaw proposed, officers — either bylaw enforcement or RCMP — would be allowed to “enter at any reasonable time onto property to inspect and determine whether the regulations of this bylaw are being complied with.”

RELATED: Lights out: District of North Vancouver proposal would dim Christmas displays at night

Over the last five years, the district received two complaints about Christmas lights, according to Coun. Matthew Bond.

Earlier Monday he said the motion was an overreach, especially during the pandemic.

“Whatever we can do during this winter to bring a little bit more light and joy into people’s lives, I think, is going to be really important for people’s mental health.”

Well, it took until 1030pm to get to it, but Council will unanimously support a motion to get rid of this foolish recommendation as swiftly as possible. https://t.co/RTkWaJOqck

— Mathew Bond (@mrmathewbond) November 24, 2020

He was relieved by council’s decision to take the recommendation off the table.

“I thought it was a little bit ridiculous at the time,” he said. “I didn’t think we should be regulating this.”