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

Montgomery 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 and nuisance provisions in the Code of Ordinances apply 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. Montgomery 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 — HOA covenant authority over visible decorations is generally enforceable. Properties in the Old Cloverdale, Garden District, Cottage Hill, Capitol Heights, Centennial Hill, Cloverdale-Idlewild, and Old North Hull Street historic districts face Architectural Review Board guidelines that typically permit temporary seasonal lighting without a Certificate of Appropriateness, but permanently installed exterior lighting requires ARB review. Power consumption is governed only by the property owner's contract with Alabama Power. Decorations cannot block sidewalks, encroach into the public right-of-way, or obstruct corner-visibility triangles at intersections under the Zoning Ordinance.