Air Force families at Florida base ordered to strip early Christmas lights from homes by Grinch management corp.

The war on premature Christmas cheer has arrived in Florida, where families at Tyndall Air Force Base were ordered to strip their homes of holiday lights and Santa décor weeks before Thanksgiving.Residents in privatized housing run by Balfour Beatty Communities were told in a message titled “One Holiday at a Time…” that “Christmas decorations have already begun to appear within the community.”The company warned that “all holiday decorations should be reflective in their respective months and not any sooner than 30 days before the given holiday.”“If you currently have Yuletide decor present on the outside of your home, please remove it and reinstall it in accordance with your community guidelines,” the notice read.The directive, which was posted to the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, sparked a wave of outrage and mockery across military circles, with service members and veterans accusing the base’s landlord of acting like a “Grinch.”Air Force Capt.Justin Davidson-Beebe, the public affairs chief at Tyndall, confirmed to the military affairs news site Task & Purpose that the order came from Balfour Beatty, not the Air Force itself.“They are enforcing the community standards outlined in the legally binding lease agreement all residents voluntarily sign,” Davidson-Beebe said.He said that the housing company’s standards allow winter decorations starting the week after Thanksgiving through the first week of January.“These guidelines are not part of a broader Air Force policy,” he said.

“Since community standards are set by the privatized housing management company at some installations, standards may vary from base to base.”A Balfour Beatty spokesperson told Task & Purpose the company’s policy permits decorations 30 days before a holiday, describing it as “common practice across rental communities and homeowners’ associations to help ensure neighborhoods can remain neat, consistent, and enjoyable for al...