FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio — In about a week's time, the festive residents of Fairview Park's Seabury Avenue will start setting up their famous holiday lights displays. But there's been some controversy, because the mayor and police are going to be enforcing some new rules this year.
"Fairview Park's special holiday display is now in danger!" wrote one organizer of Seabury Holiday Lights. "Fairview Park residents are outraged."
Fairview Park Mayor Bill Schneider released a statement on the matter on Friday.
"Unfortunately, with the growth of this destination, various issues have become apparent that can no longer be ignored for reasons of public safety, individual rights, and overall risk," he said.
So Schneider has banned certain kinds of light decorations to keep people safe.
Schneider explained in the statement that Seabury Avenue will normally get under 250 visitors per week, but in December, that number skyrockets to upwards of 3,000, creating a problem for policing and crowd control.
The crowd of people makes it difficult for first responders to go down the right-of-way on Seabury for emergencies, particularly when there are lighted arches over the sidewalks or holiday lights on the tree lawn.
The city encourages people to continue decorating their homes, but they can no longer put lights, electrical cords, signs, displays, and structures on sidewalks or tree lawns. Also, buses and limousines are no longer allowed on the street.
"Seabury Holiday Lights are an amazing and unique reflection of our residents," the mayor concluded. "The destination has become immensely popular; however, we need to ensure that public safety and individual rights are kept paramount. The phenomenon will continue this year."
Fairview Park Police Department Chief Paul Shepard said not complying with the lighting rules is a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
“Do I want to be the Grinch? No, but unfortunately, I took an oath of office to uphold the ordinances of Fairview Park, and I can’t turn a blind eye to a violation that we absolutely know is going on,” Shepard said. "We want them to decorate their houses. We want them to decorate their yards. They just can’t decorate on the public right of way.”
The chief explained that the ordinances have existed for decades, and it's now time they seriously enforce them.
On Nov. 8, the city began educating the public about the new enforcement on social media and sent letters to local tour and limo companies outlining all applicable traffic laws.
City leaders have also been having meetings with Seabury residents. Rick DeChant has attended the meetings.
“I can understand why some residents are upset about this, but the key is you’ve got a mayor who’s listening, helping hold these meetings," he said. "Some of us have talked about the arch we had over the sidewalk putting up and over our front porches above our front doors, so you still have the colored arches and stuff. This year’s display will be a little different without question and we continue to have the meetings with the city.”
The city is having a final meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. At Fairview Park City Hall to go over the rules.
You can read the full statement from Mayor Schneider below: