Birmingham, AL Holiday Decorations: Holiday Light Rules (2026)

Birmingham does not regulate residential holiday light installation, removal dates, or brightness through municipal code. Decorative lighting is permitted year-round on private property at single-family and multi-family residences. The city noise ordinance in the Birmingham General Code applies to amplified music or audio in holiday displays — sound that is plainly audible across a residential property line during nighttime hours (typically 10 p.m. – 7 a.m.) can be cited as a nuisance. Birmingham has no city-wide dark-sky ordinance, but neighbors can pursue private-nuisance complaints when light is directed into bedroom windows. Alabama has no statewide holiday-display preemption comparable to California Civil Code §4710. Homeowners' association covenants in master-planned communities such as Liberty Park, Ross Bridge, Greystone-Highlands, and Trace Crossings frequently impose removal deadlines and aesthetic limits — typically a Nov 1 – Jan 15 display window. Power consumption is governed only by the property owner's contract with Alabama Power; there is no city restriction on lighting wattage. Decorations cannot block sidewalks, encroach into the public right-of-way (Code Title 10 Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places), or obstruct corner-visibility triangles at intersections under the Birmingham Zoning Ordinance.