Dallas home with viral Christmas lights cost taxpayers $25K
DALLAS - A Dallas mansion that went viral on social media because of its Christmas light display ended up costing the city about $25,000.
The homeowners in the Preston Hollow neighborhood posted a video on TikTok inviting Snoop Dogg to drop by any time.
It was just one of the many videos of what has become known as " The Viral House."
But instead of Christmas cheer, the light display created headaches for those stuck in the massive traffic backups and crowds.
"The homeowner’s association president reached out to me when traffic started accumulating. People running across lanes of traffic. Yards were getting damaged. As time went on, it kept getting worse and worse," said Dallas City Council member Gay Donnell Willis. "You had international celebrities tweeting about this. And so all of a sudden, it became the thing that everyone has to go and see."
While the home is huge, the street it’s on is not.
Willis said the videos, which included the home’s location, took a quiet neighborhood and "turned it on its side."
"At a time of the year when people are looking for peace, joy, and kindness, this turned into chaos," she said.
Despite a code enforcement warning that the "light glare or direct illumination shall not cross a property line with an intensity that creates a nuisance," the lights stayed on throughout the holidays.
Willis said the city’s hands were tied.
Things got so bad that the Dallas Police Department had to be called in to control traffic.
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The touching story behind a McKinney couple's massive Christmas lights display
Mark Cornetti and Nasheel Joules loved looking at Christmas lights together every year until Joules was diagnosed with a rare heart disease. Since she couldn't go out and enjoy the festivities, the couple decided to bring Christmas home.
She later requested a cost breakdown. It added up to $25,375 involving 71 officers during eight nights.
"That does not seem like the best way to deploy DPD resources, but it had to be done," she said. "Instead of being able to answer 911 calls, they were managing a Christmas lights traffic situation."
The homeowner said that the lights were initially well-received by neighbors.
"However, on December 15th, a post...gained significant traction online....Throughout this experience, we observed a profound sense of community. Families dressed in Christmas pajamas convened to take photographs, sharing smiles and support, particularly among those enduring challenges....we have resolved to make the most of the situation, even in light of some neighbors adopting a contrasting viewpoint," Ryan DeVitis said in a statement.
Vitis did not respond to concerns about the $25,000 cost to the city to manage the traffic.
Councilmember Willis said she is requesting that a committee discuss if the city needs to make changes to its code to help protect neighborhoods from viral attractions that may cause traffic headaches in the future.