A Colorado neighborhood came together to successfully protest the ordered removal of an inflatable Santa Claus that stands at 28 feet tall.
Dora Flores and her family erected the inflatable Santa, which stands taller than their house, in their yard in Severance.
“We saved up money throughout the year to be able to purchase Santa,” Flores told KUSA-TV. “People were driving by taking pictures with their children.”
Flores said the merriment proved short-lived, as they soon received a letter from Fromm and Company saying the decoration was a violation of homeowner’s association policy.
“The Santa Claus located in your backyard is excessive in height and not permitted. Please remove immediately,” the letter reads.
Flores said the letter did not include any specific height regulations, but did threaten fines if the order was not obeyed promptly.
Neighbors joined the Flores family in protesting the order, with multiple residents reaching out to HOA management, participating in social media campaigns and erecting inflatables of their own.
Support extended beyond signs. Across the street, neighbor put up his own inflatable.
“Definitely now, I won’t take it down,” neighbor Cody Bowden said of his own inflatable. “I don’t see that this is anything offensive or anything wrong.”
The protests appear to have had an effect, with Flores receiving permission to return Santa to his place of honor.
“This morning I did receive a call from the upper management of our HOA apologizing and letting us know that we can keep Santa, and letting us know that it was a mistake on their behalf,” Flores told KDVR-TV.
