- December 4, 2025
The Palm Coast Council has once again revisited its residential house color ordinance, and has unanimously agreed to keep its list of banned colors while lifting other color restrictions.
The new ordinance, which will need to return to the council for two readings and votes, lifts the light reflective value restrictions but keeps the five banned colors: neon, fuchsia, magenta, orange and purple. The ordinance will not change the restriction on the number of colors allowed, which is one main house color with two complimentary accent colors.
On July 1, the Palm Coast City Council voted to lift all restrictions on house colors. Because the vote was different from the ordinance presented to the council to vote on that day, the change would have had to go back through the approval process. It was slated to be reviewed by the Palm Coast Planning Board on July 16.
Since the July 1 meeting, Vice Mayor Pontieri said she has heard from many residents who support having at least some color restrictions. She said she wanted to revisit the ordinance because it “is adverse to what our city stands for.”
“Reasonable regulation is in place for a reason,” she said. “I think getting rid of all color regulations is an extreme move in the wrong direction.”
The council voted 4-1 to reconsider the July 1 house color ordinance vote that repealed all color restrictions, with Mayor Mike Norris opposing. The council then discussed what to replace it with.
Pontieri said she would be OK revisiting a broader, allowed LRV, including darker colors, or even putting the item up for a referendum vote since the public seemed “split down the middle.”
Mayor Mike Norris disagreed that the item should go on the ballot.
“We’re not a direct democracy. We’re not going to vote on everything,” he said. “That’s why people elect us to represent their best interest.”
Councilman David Sullivan agreed. It would be difficult to put the ordinance into the correct words for a referendum, he said.
“This has been a discussion point for a long time,” he said. “I think it’s time to get on with it.”
Norris and Councilman Ty Miller suggested the city instead go back to a previously rejected ordinance, which lifted the LRV restriction and kept the listed banned colors. That ordinance had already been reviewed — and rejected — by the city’s planning board, which meant the council would not need to start the process from scratch.
Pontieri did disagree with just keeping the banned colors, as there was a level of subjectivity to it. The LRV system, she said, at least made the restrictions objective.
“You’re subjectively saying these five colors are so repulsive that we’re going to continue to ban them,” she said. “And I just find that to be contradictory.”
But, Miller said, the LRV could also be seen as subjective.
“We’re still we’re using a formula to come to a subjective measure,” he said.
The council voted 5-0 on keeping the five banned colors but lifting the LRV restrictions. It will return to council for two formal reads and votes before it is implemented.
“We have spent too much time on this,” Miller said.
