Holiday light by-law drives family out of Kingsville

A Kingsville family, who for years put up elaborate Christmas lights and decor outside their home on Marshwoods Boulevard, has instead put up a for sale sign this year.

Colton Williams said they plan to move out of Kingsville after town council passed a new by-law earlier this month that restricts large holiday displays and would require a person to obtain a holiday display permit.

"The Grinch is definitely a word that's being tossed around a lot," said Williams, who explained a small number of neighbourhood complaints led to the decision.

The by-law would also allow a clerk to impose certain conditions, such as the day and times the holiday display can occur and noise and traffic mitigation measures.

Williams said he was dismayed by the by-law, noting hundreds of hours of setup was required in years past to illuminate over 65,000 lights.

Source: Williams Light Show/Facebook.

"The town made their by-law so I could have the light show ten hours a week. So that works out to be 40 hours over the whole month of December," Williams said.

"That's 500 hours almost of set up time to display for 40 hours. It's so much work, but you know what? At the same time, if I could still get it done by Nov. 29, it would be worth it just to see everyone come out here at the end."

In 2014, Williams created his first light show with his grandmother, Lois Williams, who loved the holidays. Four years later she lost her battle to cancer.

Williams continued the tradition in her honour, noting over $45,000 had been raised since 2017 for cancer research.

Williams Lightshow at 24 Marshwoods Blvd. in Kingsville, Ont. (Source: WilliamsLightShow.com)

"I'm angry, I'm upset, I'm frustrated,” he said.

“I don't think there's a word to really encapsulate how I feel, because it's just so many different emotions all in one. Yeah, I'm angry, but I'm crazy sad. This is going to be the hardest Christmas for me since the passing of my grandma."

He continued, expressing how much joy he got out of seeing kids dancing and community members enjoying his display.

“It's already been hard not being out here putting up lights every night,” said Williams.

He said he feels like the by-law specifically targeted his annual display.

"It's crazy," Williams stated. "There's not a better word to describe it than crazy."

Source: Williams Light Show/Facebook.

Speaking to CTV News, Mayor Dennis Rogers said compromise conversations began with the Williams family earlier this year, hoping to find common ground, which never came to fruition.

"I mean, obviously, we're sad to see them go," Rogers said.

"A lot of our residents loved it. But as you got closer to the display, that's where the concerns kind of grew."

According to Rogers, the light show outgrew the residential neighbourhood, and the town couldn't ignore multiple concerns from nearby residents.

"We're saddened to see the display go,” said Rogers.

“It meant a lot to a lot of our residents and beyond. And you know, our goal was really to find some common ground for their show to be able to continue but also provide some support for those neighbors that were directly affected."

Rogers said the town conducted a survey to gather feedback on the light display that revealed a lot of people enjoyed it, but that there were others who had issues.

Following the by-law approval, Rogers said the family was invited to town hall to answer any questions to help them put on a display this year, but that didn't happen.

"It is what it is unfortunately,” the mayor said.

“But we want to be there. We want to help. We want to support events like this. It's just, again, we just have to think in the broader sense of just ensuring that we're looking at everybody."

Williams said he hopes to work with the Town of Essex and County of Essex while anticipating the return of the light show in 2026, as they plan to build a new home first.

"Based on the support we've got on Facebook and everywhere else, it seems like any municipality wants to welcome us,” he said.

“I've had a lot of councillors from other municipalities comment and share and react to a lot of the comments and it seems like it's going to be supported almost anywhere except Kingsville."