NICEVILLE — Debbie Lewis is “The Christmas Lady” — even at this time of year she sports a Christmas pin to stay in the spirit.

But Niceville City Manager Lannie Corbin wants to curtail one aspect of her enthusiasm — he has told Lewis, a real-estate agent, and her husband that they must stop letting people park and walk through their annual holiday display.

Citing safety issues and neighbors’ complaints, Corbin sent Lewis a letter dated Feb. 23 telling her that the activities are “not appropriate residential use.”

Every year, the couple spends eight weeks setting up thousands of dollars worth of dolls, villages, lights and yard ornaments called “Animation in Motion.”

The event lasts for 2 1/2 weeks, with a viewing schedule that includes drive-by and tour opportunities until Christmas Day. Lights, displays and signs fill the front and back yards. Guests walk a winding path through the backyard and into their home. More than 5,000 guests visited last year, including Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, church groups and retirement-home residents.

The couple also walk in Niceville’s Christmas parade, handing out fliers inviting everyone to their house to see the display. They offer free hot chocolate, cookies and candy canes on some nights, and don’t charge admission.

Making the decision wasn’t something that Corbin enjoyed, because he knows Lewis well.

“She’s a nice lady who is very active in our community,” he said. “But it was clear we had to do the right thing rather than the popular thing. I’m almost afraid the next photo I have in the paper is going to be replaced by the Grinch.”

Corbin added that the city could be liable if there was an accident on the street during the Christmas display.

“For a lot of families, it’s a tradition,” said Lewis. “But we don’t do it for fame or for attention. We wanted to share what God has blessed us with.”

Her neighbor, Joyce Keller, doesn’t feel so blessed. She’s one of the group of nine families who live nearby who have complained to the city about the theme-park atmosphere.

“People go, ‘Isn’t it wonderful!’ It isn’t so wonderful when you impose it on a neighborhood,” Keller said. “I can’t even have my family come to my house for the holidays. There’s nowhere to park.”

Keller is also concerned about liability issues. Because visitors park on both sides of the street, the only places to walk are in the neighbors’ yards or in the road.

“If someone falls in my yard, they aren’t going to sue the Christmas Lady. They are going to come after me, and I didn’t even invite them,” she said.

Charles Kevin Payne, the Christmas Lady’s husband, says their property rights are being restricted.

“I can’t understand how I can be told I can’t open my home and let people come in. We can still put lights out front, so I don’t think it’s going to alleviate people driving by,” he said.

The letter from Corbin directs Lewis to decorate her home and property, “like others in our area.”

It also states, “The numerous vehicles parking haphazardly in your neighborhood greatly affected the quality of life for everyone else residing on the street.”

Another neighbor, Bretta Burger, thought the display was great the first year after Lewis and Payne moved in. As traffic piled up each year, she grew more concerned.

“It’s so much worse than the Kmart parking lot at Christmas,” she said. “And we’re living in the middle of it.”

She’s been threatened by visitors who don’t want to move their cars and has had to clean paper cups out of her yard in the mornings.

“It’s a public event, heavily advertised, that’s going on in a residential neighborhood,” she said. “My biggest fear is that something is going to happen to a child who’s running across the road to see the lights. It’s not going to have been worth it then.”

Another neighbor, Charlotte Morgan, is concerned that she and other senior citizens won’t be able to get emergency medical care if the traffic jams continue.

“It could be a matter of life and death, whether we could get an ambulance in here,” she said. “I think Debbie means well; it’s just gotten out of hand.”

Source:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-christmaslady1907mar19,0,2013505.story