Florida couple told to shut down nativity light display at Satellite Beach business

Satellite Beach couple told to shut down nativity light display

A Satellite Beach couple has been asked by city officials to turn off their immersive nativity light display, citing local ordinances on exterior lighting.

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. - The sign-less building sits off Highway A1A in Satellite Beach. 

Most just see four large white walls, but immersive artist Jonathan Myers saw a canvas.

The backstory:

Myers set out to create a Christmas nativity scene using lights and projectors.

Myers and his wife, Emily Verrelli, own Immersive Beach, a new business. Inside the building, they projected art onto the walls, floors, even ceilings.

"We have like a floral display right now in this room," said Verrelli. "I believe there’s about four… let’s see – one, two, three, four… four projectors currently in this room."

The game room is space themed.

"There’s astronauts coming out of the space station," Verrelli said.

And in the restroom: reptiles – it’s Verrelli’s favorite room!

"There’s little animals sort of running back and forth," she said with a laugh.

Ahead of the holidays, the couple set out to continue their vision to the exterior of the building – but not all were on board with their bright plan.

The project

Myers got to work creating a nativity-themed projection that covered the building.

"It was kind of like a traditional nativity scene, with maybe like a modern twist," Verrelli said. "It has some stained-glass windows and some like golden illumination on it."

A couple in Satellite Beach said their nativity scene was shut down by city officials.

According to Verrelli, the Christmas scene was projected for a few nights, until they received a call from a city employee telling them to turn it off.

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"We found out after, the city doesn’t allow any type of illumination on the building, so we did have to unfortunately turn it off."

A couple in Satellite Beach said their nativity scene was shut down by city officials.

Verrelli said they complied immediately.

Pulling the plug… literally

According to Verrelli, the city employee told her an anonymous complaint was called in – citing the city’s strict lighting code.

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"We believe Christmas to be about Jesus, so it was very disappointing when he found out that he needed to take it down," Verrelli said.

Satellite Beach city code is very particular about lighting – mostly due to concerns over sea turtle nesting season and other wildlife. Sea turtle nesting season spans March through October.

Verrelli said they only started projecting onto the building exterior after Thanksgiving.

What's next:

Verrelli and Myers said they got a lot of positive feedback on the nativity scene, and are hopeful the city will reconsider their request to keep it up for the Christmas season.

"We want to work with the city, and they’ve actually been very kind and warm toward us, but perhaps we have an outdated ordinance on our hands that can be re-discussed and brought back to the table," Verrelli said. "The images are still, they’re peaceful – they’re not flashing, bright Broadway lights. It’s as if the building has been painted by an artist, then it’s just lit by landscape lighting."

FOX 35’s Hannah Mackenzie reached out to city officials for comment. She was told her request would be forwarded to the city attorney’s office. We did not hear back before publication.