The Christmas season is months away, but city officials are already mulling over how to deal with potentially viral decoration displays that can draw a surge in traffic to residential neighborhoods.
Earlier this year, The Dallas Express detailed how a decorated home in the Preston Hollow neighborhood drew so much traffic during the most recent Christmas season that dozens of police officers were called in for assistance. According to the city, 71 officers helped manage the flow of cars, costing taxpayers over $25,000.
Now, the city is trying to decide how to address similar situations in the future.
Dallas City Council’s quality of life, arts, and culture committee met this week to consider changes that would “add teeth” to existing codes to help manage similar events in the future.
“At the core of this, though we’re calling this extraordinary neighborhood events, it’s really about extraordinary neighborhood disruption,” said City Council member Gay Donnell Willis, who represents the area where the viral light display was located, per KENS5.
“We don’t want to disrupt people driving along looking at lights or something like that…but when you cross into what is described in this case as commercial, because what I was working with looked very commercial in nature. It was extraordinary. It was really cool, but not in the middle of a city street.”
Gatherings in Dallas that presently require permits for outdoor events, whether on public or private property, include parades, home tours, and events like the Dallas Marathon. However, instances like crowds gathering for light displays are not currently required to obtain permits.
Some council members, like Jaynie Schultz, questioned whether implementing a harsh policy was a good idea.
“On that lighting prohibition…many of us drive Christmas light streets, so would we not be able to do that anymore?” said Schultz.
Schultz recommended that the committee consider other means to deal with these events, like mandating permits for those exceeding a specific traffic volume.
“Why couldn’t we simply define a special event as the anything greater than 100?… Is there a possibility of just simply saying if you have more than 100 people at your area and you don’t have a permit, you will be shut down?” said Schultz.
Council member Paul Ridley thinks the city is at risk of becoming “Grinches.”
“I’m concerned that we end up becoming Grinches, stamping out anyone’s holiday displays in an excess of zeal here,” said Ridley.
The meeting did not result in any conclusive decisions and is expected to be brought back before the city council at a later date.