Newport News, VA Holiday Decorations: Holiday Light Rules (2026)

Newport News has no city ordinance specifically limiting the dates, brightness, or duration of residential holiday lighting. Residents may install seasonal lights on private property without prior city approval. Permanent exterior wiring (hardwired soffit channels, always-on landscape lighting) requires an electrical permit through the Newport News Department of Codes Compliance and must be installed per the 2020 National Electrical Code as incorporated in the 2021 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code. Chapter 45 of the City Code regulates signage, including temporary signs (size, placement, duration), but private residential holiday lighting itself does not fall within the sign definition. Commercial holiday displays involving temporary signage on business properties are subject to the temporary-sign rules in Chapter 45. Excessive sustained brightness or sky-glow that constitutes a verifiable nuisance can be addressed through Newport News Codes Compliance under general property maintenance provisions and the Virginia Property Maintenance Code. Some Newport News subdivisions, particularly newer planned communities and waterfront enclaves, enforce holiday lighting display windows through recorded CCRs under the Virginia Property Owners' Association Act (Va. Code section 55.1-1800 et seq.). The Hilton Village historic district along Warwick Boulevard has separate architectural review for permanent exterior alterations.