HOA Asks Pennsylvania Family To Remove 'Jesus' Christmas Display
GETTYSBURG, PA (CBS) -- A religious holiday display is causing tension between two neighbors in Gettysburg, PA, and their neighborhood homeowner association.
Mark Wivell put up Christmas decorations which include a display that says "Jesus."
Days later, Wivell and his wife received an email from their homeowner association asking the couple to take the display down, claiming that the sign was offensive to some neighbors.
"We know that Christmas was about the birth of Jesus," Wivell told WUSA9. "I was quite shocked it offended somebody, but I guess in today's world I shouldn't have been."
The issue at hand turned into a dispute between the Wivells and the association, which boiled down to determining whether or not the display was considered a decoration.
Wivell says it is a decoration and that it was placed the same time as his Mickey and Minnie Mouse Christmas decorations, and even includes strand of lights over the plywood display.
However, the homeowner's association says the display is considered a sign.
So far, the Wivells have not been formally cited for the display, which they plan to keep up until Jan. 15, which is the day mandated by the HOA for the removal of Christmas decorations.
