- July 12, 2025
A Palm Coast home with an LRV of 5, which is outside the code restrictions. Image courtesy of Palm Coast Jan. 14 council meeting documents
Palm Coast's new house color ordinance lowers the LRV restriction to 65 from 80 and adds "light Bermuda colors" to the approved selection. Photo by Brian McMillan
Shades that will now be approved in Palm Coast's new house color ordinance. Photo by Brian McMillan
Shades that will now be approved in Palm Coast's new house color ordinance. Photo by Brian McMillan
Shades that will now be approved in Palm Coast's new house color ordinance. Photo by Brian McMillan
Shades that will now be approved in Palm Coast's new house color ordinance. Photo by Brian McMillan
Shades that will now be approved in Palm Coast's new house color ordinance. Photo by Brian McMillan
The number of allowable colors for Palm Coast homes has expanded, but some residents do not think the change goes far enough.
The Palm Coast City Council approved on June 17 in a 4-1 vote, with Mayor Mike Norris opposing, a change to the city’s ordinance for house colors that expands the color range from those with an LRV of 80 or higher to those with an Light Reflection Value of 65 or higher. An LRV is how much light is reflected by a color, with a higher LRV equally a lighter color and lower LRV a darker color.
Though the change does broaden Palm Coast’s approved color list from pastels, beiges and greys to include light Bermuda colors, including blue, it still prohibits dark colors, sage and olive green and any shades of purple, fuchsia, magenta and orange with an LRV less than 65.
Resident Mindy Melendez was one of the residents that instigated the review of the color ordinance back in 2023. She said that Palm Coast does not require residents to pull a permit to paint their homes, so many residents do not even know there are restrictions. And when the previous sitting council members began reviewing the ordinance, she said, no one even looked at the darker LRV range.
“I want to reiterate that we do not live in an HOA community,” Melendez said. “Homeowners are not required to pull permits to paint their homes.”
The enforcement of the policy is also inconsistent, she said: many residences across the city have darker colors or non-approved colors.
“But because my neighbor complained, I get a citation,” she said.
Norris likened the restrictions to that of an HOA, and said the city should just restrict neons and “polka dots” and “stripes,” and allow residents to choose their own colors.
“Me personally, I don’t think we should have an ordinance that restricts that personal freedom to paint your house what you want,” he said.
Norris also said that the city needs to review how it enforces its code. Code enforcement officers in Palm Coast do not police the neighborhoods, instead relying on residents to report their neighbors for code violations.
“I don’t think we need a code enforcement board,” Norris said. “I think we need some more teeth in our ordinance.”
Resident Mark Webb agreed.
“We’re relying on our neighbors to enforce the codes that we have in place,” he said. “I don’t know a neighbor of mine what is a good or bad paint color.”
Council member Ty Miller said that the city should review its enforcement processes as a whole.
“I think that’s applicable for a lot of code, not just this one,” he said.
With consensus from the council as a whole, the city will review the code enforcement process at a future meeting. For now, the council has approved the first of two required votes for the new color ordinance.