Lawyers join battle over 'Arcadia Christmas House'
A conservative think tank and a team of lawyers are vowing to lead the charge against what they say is unnecessary bureaucracy unfairly targeting a man's three-decade effort to spread Christmas cheer across Phoenix.
It was reported last week that the famed "Arcadia Christmas House" would go dark after officials from Phoenix addressed complaints about the holiday mainstay in a meeting with its mastermind, 66-year-old Lee Sepanek.
That meeting, though, left Sepanek feeling dejected, defeated and anything but festive. Instead of adorning his own house, he used his lights to help decorate neighbors' homes.
Lawyers intercede on Sepanek's behalf
City officials have said they in no way threatened to "shut down" his light display — they have no authority to do so, they said.
In a Tuesday statement, the city of Phoenix said the Christmas display is "not an issue between the homeowner and the city," but that the city was contacted by neighbors with traffic and safety concerns stemming from Sepanek's display.
The statement said that since December 2014, a handful of Sepanek's neighbors have filed more than a dozen inquiries and calls for service because of the lights.
"The city's role has been to offer suggestions and mediate between the neighbors," the statement read.
The statement went on to say that "Every Phoenix resident has the right to display holiday lights" and that there are "no city rules or regulations that prevent homeowners from displaying holiday lights."
Still, attorneys supporting Sepanek argue red tape in the form of restrictions on concessions forced Sepanek to pull the plug on the holiday undertaking that has drawn throngs of visitors to the 250,000-light display.
The Goldwater Institute and the Rose Law Group on Tuesday were preparing a letter to the city of Phoenix on Sepanek’s behalf that seeks clarification on what he needs to do to stay within city rules.
“This year, Mr. Sepanek’s Christmas display has fallen victim to vague, convoluted over-regulation from the City of Phoenix,” Goldwater Institute Director of National Litigation Jon Riches said in a statement. “We are asking the city to say with specificity what Mr. Sepanek must do in order to continue a beloved Valley tradition."
During a joint news conference with his attorneys Tuesday evening to discuss the holiday-themed kerfuffle, Sepanek said he believes the complaints are coming from a small group of households in the area.
"Get a life," Sepanek said. "Move on. I don't sweat the small stuff. Maybe they haven't had enough problems in their life and they just strike out on whatever they can come up with that they think is important to them but that doesn't seem to be important to anyone else."
The city of Phoenix's Tuesday statement said that staff recently met with Sepanek for a "good neighbor meeting" and provided suggestions for traffic control measures, but emphasized that the only mandated measure was that Sepanek stop selling food and drinks.
In a letter to Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, attorneys asked city officials to "state with specificity any demands" regarding the holiday display.
Attorneys also challenged the city's argument that Sepanek was in violation of the "mobile food vending ordinance," which they said was invalid and did not apply to handing out powdered hot cocoa for a donation.
Under what it said what the city's "extraordinarily broad interpretation," it appears that handing out Halloween candy or operating a lemonade stand would be a violation.
"We shouldn’t need the government’s permission in order to celebrate Christmas, or any holiday," Riches added. "And we hope that in years to come, this holiday display so many Phoenicians and Arizonans have come to love will return.”
'It's not as good'
Dan Harris has been one of Sepanek's neighbors for three years and said Sepanek's annual Christmas display is "wonderful."
"I think it's really Grinchy for people to complain and litigate and try to sic the law on somebody. It takes away from the spirit," Harris said. "What's next, are you going to try to take away apple pie and baseball too?"
Harris said in previous years, the additional traffic in the neighborhood caused by tourists coming to see Sepanek's lights was "nothing significant" and that the minority of neighbors who were upset with the display should "just deal with it."
Instead of completely missing out on Christmas displays, though, Sepanek decided to light up 10 of his neighbors' houses with his lights while keeping his without them.
It's a gesture that Harris said the community appreciates, even though they wish Sepanek's own house matched the rest of the block.
"It's a Christmas treat now, but it's not as good," Harris said.
Harris said there might be a silver lining in the battle over Sepanek's lights this year, though, adding that Sepanek's Christmas cheer inspired him to consider decorating his own house on the other side of the block.
"Maybe I should reach into the old savings account and start pulling out some money for lights and get a little Griswold action on the other end of the block, too," Harris said, a reference to the movie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.''
'Pre-emptive' meeting held in October
City spokeswoman Tamera Ingersoll has said that staff received complaints about the Sepaneks selling food and drinks — which is illegal without a license under city rules — and about noise and increased traffic in the neighborhood near Camelback Road and 44th Street, The Arizona Republic reported last week.
Staff from the city's Neighborhood Services and Street Transportation departments met with the Sepaneks in October to have "a pre-emptive meeting to see if we could alleviate some complaints in the neighborhood," Ingersoll said.
Staffers recommended having buses park in a nearby lot, rather than on the street.
That was the extent of the conversation, she said.
But Sepanek's account of the conversation is markedly different.
Sepanek said staff told him that he couldn't sell or give away cocoa and cookies, that he should hire five or six people to direct traffic, and that putting "no parking" signs in front of his neighbors' driveways would not work.
Ingersoll told The Republic that city staff did not say any of that.
A Tuesday email from Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher addressed to Sepanek sought to clarify the city's stance on the display.
"As we have said, there is nothing prohibiting you from displaying holiday lights at your home, this year or in the future," the email began.
The email went on to reiterate that measures brought up at last week's meeting were not mandates but rather suggestions to "mitigate the concerns and these suggestions do not prevent you from displaying your holiday lights."
The email said that Sepanek is free to give away food and drinks and/or accept charitable donations but again said that selling those items is against Sepanek's neighborhood district regulations.
If they had put up lights this year, Ingersoll said, and spurred more complaints, "He could get a notice of violation that he has (15 to 30) days to fix something, and if he chose not to fix that, he could receive a fine if he went through a court proceeding."
The city did not issue any notices of violations during the meeting they had in October.
'The lights were never in question'
Still, Sepanek said he found it so frustrating that he gave up.
"I got disheartened," he said. "I walked in my house, told my wife, 'We're not going to light up this year.' Because I got no encouragement from them this year."
Ingersoll said the city never told the Sepaneks that they couldn't put up lights, and that the city has no authority to "shut down" light displays.
"The lights were never in question," Ingersoll said, adding that the only possible notice of violation the city could issue is if Sepanek continued to sell food without a license. "This was a good-neighbor meeting to try to calm the discord between neighbors, traffic and the amount of calls to police. That’s all this ever was. It was a suggestion conversation."
Sepanek said he has never been approached by concerned neighbors. Instead, neighbors complained to the city, city staff were required to talk with the Sepaneks about the problem, and the confrontation "depressed" Sepanek.
"This is my hobby. I have nothing else. I plan all year to do Christmas," he said. "I don’t even know what I’m going to do with the free time. For 30 years, I’ve not had nothing to do Thanksgiving to New Year's but Christmas lights and sit outside and talk to people."
One of those people was Nadine Jimenez, who made the several-mile trip to Sepanek's house on Tuesday evening expecting to see bright Christmas lights and was disappointed to see a dark driveway.
"We had such a good time (last year), and we're very sad that this is happening to him," Jimenez said. "I know for my boyfriend it was very sentimental because his mom used to decorate in a very similar style and she died three years ago, so he just felt so emotional the first time we came here."
Jimenez said Sepanek's lights "brought such joy" to the neighborhood and that she hopes the parties involved can reach a happy medium.
"Just bring the lights back," Jimenez said. "It just brings so much joy in this season and at this time of turmoil for the world, and the little things that people do to bring others joy should be appreciated."
Reach the reporter at 602-444-8515, jpohl@azcentral.com or on Twitter: @pohl_jason.
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