The District of North Vancouver council scrapped plans Monday night to debate forcing residents to turn off their holiday lights by 11 p.m. this Christmas season.
The council struck the amendment from the agenda, citing community concerns saying there are more important things to worry about.
Coun. Jordan Back told Global News Monday the ideas came from workshops council attended last year.
“At that workshop when we talked about the nuisance lighting that we would be potentially targeting, seasonal lighting is one of the concerns that come up,” Back said.
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“Certain residents came forward with concerns, and enough members of council heard those concerns and decided to take action.”
Coun. Mathew Bond, however, said Monday council should focus on bigger issues such as housing, transportation and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“According to our bylaw officers, we have had three complaints over this over five years,” he said.
Mayor Mike Little told Global News in a statement that council members felt they weren’t prepared to deal with large displays that could cause a nuisance to others.
“District has few tools to respond to over-the-top displays that neighbors might consider a nuisance,” Little said.
Holiday lights are only allowed up in the district from Nov. 15 to Jan. 15.