Posted on 12/02/2003 5:16:29 PM PST by Dog Gone
NORTH PALM BEACH -- To Christopher James, Christmas inspires too much joy to be celebrated only one or two months of the year.
And if anyone else feels the need for a jolt of holiday spirit, perhaps in the middle of the blistering hot summer, James has created a year-round Christmas oasis along U.S. 1 in his shop filled with ornaments and antiques of all shapes and sizes.
The shop owner makes "magical memories" for customers who browse his 13,000-square-foot emporium so packed with fresh flowers and keepsakes it creates a cozy atmosphere with the scent of flowers and cinnamon in the air, and Christmas music wafting through the halls.
But it's not what's inside Christopher's Christmas, Party, Gifts and Antiques that has the North Palm Beach resident pondering the fate of the business he's spent 23 years creating.
His latest round in a more than decade-long bout with code enforcement officers revolves around what's outside -- his two 5-foot-tall Santa Claus figures. So far, he owes $47,000 in fines for this and other code enforcement disputes over the years, and the meter is still running.
"My family keeps telling me to sell so I won't have to deal with it anymore," James said. "But I don't want to lose this. It's my life, and I love making people happy."
Two years after James took the village to court challenging the code enforcement board's 2001 order declaring the Santas in violation of the local sign code, a panel of circuit judges earlier this year agreed with the village. By upholding the code enforcement board's ruling, the judges essentially said the village can fine James for keeping the Santa display up year-round.
The ruling came as a blow to James who said he's now entering his busiest season with no idea what the future holds for his shop.
"We just don't have the money to pay off these liens," James said.
Village officials all along have said they appreciate the shop's contribution to the community, but that it must abide by village codes. Holiday decorations are allowed only from Oct. 15 until two weeks after Christmas.
North Palm Beach Councilman Edward Eissey said the council is aware of James' long history with the village's code enforcement department, and in the past has directed its attorney to "follow the law."
"My personal opinion is the shop is a great asset to our community, and I thoroughly appreciate that he's here," Eissey said. "Still, we said we'll follow what the code is."
James' attorney, Barry Silver, argued that the village's code is vague and therefore unenforceable.
In his lawsuit, James said the Santa display should be exempt from those rules and allowed all year because it's a religious display.
"Santa Claus is a benevolent image derived from a real person named Saint Nicholas," according to legal documents James filed in the case. "For many Christians, Santa Claus is a religious figure, inextricably associated with the holiday of Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus."
But the judges, without offering a written opinion, sided with the village's attorneys who argued "the out of season erection of two large Santa Claus figures on James' retail business property did not constitute a religious display" nor did it infringe on his rights to freedom of religion.
"The village does not prevent James from displaying Santa Claus figures inside his retail store, nor does it prevent him from communicating his beliefs to his retail customers or others," according to the village's legal documents.
The village's attorneys did not return phone calls for comment. Silver, James' attorney, said he thought the court's decision was "way off base."
"I've advised them to continue to put up the displays," Silver said. "We're certainly not going to throw in the towel."
But James said he's not sure he can afford to keep up the fight.
The fines from this incident and others -- including a code enforcement dispute at his home dating to 1993 involving the village's fence code -- now equate to $47,000 in liens on his property. He's launched several new business ventures, including recording a Christmas CD and creating a "how-to decorating show similar to Martha Stewart's" called Just Imagine with Christopher that airs on UPN channel 34. He's trying to sell the television program into syndication, which he hopes will help raise money to pay off the liens.
"I do believe something positive is going to come out of this," he said. "But right now I just don't know about the store."
You can make a city so clean and within a proper range of acceptable limits of appearence it actually looks ugly. You look and you feel disturbed because it lacks nature's inspired chaos, or the oddball human element here and there. I wish this guy luck; he's gonna need it with that flock of turkeys dunning him.
If I lived there, I'm sure they would hate my purple house and dandilion garden. ;-)
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.
But he could win if he phrased the argument differently. There is no rational basis for restricting Santa to two months, any more than restricting the Golden Arches for two months.
The guy has a lousy attorney.
This is clearly vulnerable to challenge on a constitutional basis. More than one, actually.
But, this guy is going to lose because he and his attorney want to fight it on a different battlefield. Oh well.
You know Google works on your computer too! OK, since you caught me in a good mood here's the ordinance.
I don't know if they think he's violating this ordinance directly, or if his Santa statues are out of compliance with other sections of the sign ordinance but would be exempted under this ordinance during the holiday season. Feel free to read the rest of the municipal code of North Palm Beach to figure that one out. :)
Sec. 6-112. Exempt signs
F) Holiday lights and decorations, erected during the appropriate holiday season, shall comply with all building and electrical codes. Holiday lights and decorations may be erected no earlier than four (4) weeks prior to the subject holiday with the exception of the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays. Christmas/Hanukkah lights and decorations may be erected no earlier than October 15th. All holiday lights and decorations must be removed within two (2) weeks following the holiday.
A sane man would dress the Santa Clauses in children's pajamas and put peace candles all about the base and then light them and go have a beer.
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