http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6659886/?displaymode=1006
Neighbors fight back
Throughout the country, people upset over the noise, traffic and garbage that comes when people descend on their neighborhoods to view the displays have fought back in recent years.
In Little Rock, Ark., some residents were so upset about a display with 3 million lights — said to be visible from 80 miles away — that they got the state’s Supreme Court to agree it was a public nuisance and order it scaled back.
In Monte Sereno, Calif., a couple whose huge display attracted thousands of passers-by angered neighbors and led the City Council to require a permit for any exhibit lasting longer than three days. This year, the yard holds a 10-foot Grinch, its spiny finger pointing at the house of the neighbors who initiated the complaints.
Smith, of PlanetChristmas.com, decided to give his neighbors in Franklin, Tenn., a bit of a break. After the crush of visitors forced him to hire off-duty police officers to direct traffic, he moved his show to a nearby church where there’s more room.
Meanwhile, Greg Cornwell has nothing bad to say about Parcell’s house across the street, but he’s bracing for the crowds and the looks from people when he tries to get his car into his driveway.
“They think I’m trying to cut in line,†he said.