Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach HOA’s Remind That Community Rules Prevail.
BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2021 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — If your homeowner’s association prohibits fireworks — and if that language is in the official governing documents filed with the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts — you can be fined (or more) if you set them off on Sunday.
Several communities reached out to BocaNewsNow.com, asking us to remind readers of fireworks rules and restrictions in Palm Beach County. Even the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement, reminding residents that while July 4th is an official “fireworks approved holiday” in the State of Florida, your community has the final say.
If a fireworks ban is in the community’s documents, then they’re banned. Plain and simple. Anyone violating the community’s ban can be fined. If the community believes that you are committing a noise, public safety, or other legitimate violation by setting off fireworks, law enforcement can be called and is permitted to file charges.
Many of the newer communities built over the past several years in Boca Raton, West Delray Beach and Boynton Beach have such bans written into their governing documents. That language gives HOA’s the authority to impose fines of thousands of dollars to violators. Civil or criminal action can also be pursued. With doorbell and garage cams the norm, it’s easier now than ever to document alleged violators.
The official language from the State of Florida, regarding the statute declaring July 4th an acceptable fireworks holiday: “The Legislature does not intend for the application of this section to supersede any prohibition against the use of fireworks contained within a legally executed and properly recorded declaration of covenants or covenant running with the land of any homeowners’ association pursuant to chapter 720.”
