A woman has expressed her exasperation after her neighbours transformed their house into a Christmas light extravaganza featuring more than 100,000 lights – and refused to switch them off, even at night.
The family’s religious fervour is manifested in a dazzling display that syncs to music, causing a decade-long disturbance with incessant traffic and noise affecting her child’s sleep.
She posted on Reddit: “I want to state that I love my neighbourhood but hate my next door neighbours. They are the holier than thou type who think that they know best. They also have one of the largest Christmas light displays in our city and they have over 100,000 lights synched to music which means that our street is a mess from the day after Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas.”
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She went on to describe how passers-by block her driveway, throw rubbish into her garden and “are just disrespectful in general.” She added: “The constant vehicles and noise also make it hard for our child to sleep at night.”
After ten years of tolerating the ordeal, she confronted her neighbours, asking them to turn off the lights by 9pm. However, they dismissed her concerns.
She continued: “Their response was in essence we can do what we want because of religious freedom and it is not our fault people are rude. They did offer to get noise/light blocking curtains for our child’s room, which we already had but they only help so much.
“But they refused to pick up the trash as it was not their responsibility or change the time when the lights are on. They ignore the fact that people are only there because of their lights and giving just a little bit would go a long way with neighbour relations.
She claims the lights have completely spoiled her festive cheer, leaving her to dread the Christmas period and longing for uninterrupted sleep. In her quest for a peaceful resolution, a woman has turned to social media seeking advice on how to handle her neighbours’ disruptive behaviour, insisting she wants to ‘kill them with kindness’ rather than stir up conflict in the neighbourhood.
One person suggested: “Call the city, council person, police dept, traffic division, code enforcement. Put up temporary fencing. Get a cheap garbage can and put it on parking strip. Cameras to record and back up claims.”
Another added: “This happened in my city (house with extravagant Xmas decorations causing traffic/disturbance). The neighbours banded together and had hearings with the city to create a new bylaw.” They continued: “The people were allowed to continue their display at a smaller scale and with time limits. Perhaps talk with your neighbours/city and see if you can do this too!”