Coconut Creek, FL Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Coconut Creek Code § 13-424(a) is the yard object rule that reaches the strip in front of a home. A swale area is defined in § 13-422 as the area between road pavement and sidewalk, or the property line where no sidewalk exists, designed for providing street drainage. Because the swale is drainage space, the code allows only sod there. Nonliving objects such as rock gardens, concrete buttons and concrete pyramids are prohibited, and the swale cannot be paved or covered with any material other than sod. The only carve-outs printed in subsection (a) are sprinkler heads and irrigation systems that are flush or retractable to be flush with the surrounding ground, and authorized curb cuts or driveways.

Section 13-427 adds a second exemption list: mailboxes, telephone and light poles, traffic signs and other nonliving objects required or authorized by the city. Nothing in §§ 13-424 through 13-427 creates a separate exception for seasonal or holiday displays, so a statue, planter wall or other permanent decoration placed in the swale is a nonliving object under the section.

Subsection (b) restricts planting as well: landscaping other than sod is prohibited within 15 feet of the edge of the pavement at each intersection. Under § 13-425(a), the adjoining owner or association is responsible for maintaining the swale area, and § 13-425(c) allows landscaping in swale areas, except as § 13-424 prohibits it, if it is maintained so it does not create a hazardous condition.

The rules on the rest of the yard are separate. Section 13-444(d)(3) of the landscape subdivision says decorative rocks, pebbles, stone, gravel and similar material may only accent organic landscape material and cannot cover more than 10 percent of any open space yard area. The swale ban under § 13-424 is stricter, because it allows no such objects in the swale at all.