PEORIA — A Peoria homeowner says he is being fined by his homeowners association (HOA) for displaying porch lights meant to honor Arizona’s first responders — and he has no plans to remove them without a fight.
Gene Sweeney installed two lights, one red and one blue, on each side of his garage door as a tribute to police officers, firefighters, and other emergency personnel. His community’s HOA, the WestWing Mountain Homeowners Association, determined the lights violated neighborhood rules requiring exterior lights to remain white.
Sweeney appealed the violation with a detailed letter, but the HOA denied his request, giving him until Aug. 31 to remove the lights. The HOA said he could relocate them to his backyard but could not keep them on the front of his home.
After contacting the Peoria City Council, Sweeney learned that municipalities have no authority to override HOA rules. He remains frustrated, believing the lights are harmless and appreciated by many in his neighborhood.
The tribute is also personal for Sweeney, honoring fallen heroes such as Officer Gabriel Facio of the Apache Junction Police Department, who was killed earlier this year, and the Idaho firefighters ambushed and killed in June. He maintains that his lights are a respectful gesture toward those who serve and protect, and he continues to seek a compromise that would allow them to remain in place.
