A Kingsville family says they are leaving the town after Kingsville council passed a bylaw surrounding holiday displays.
For many, making a visit to 24 Marshwoods Boulevard to see the Williams Light Show became a holiday tradition.
The light show started around 12 years ago following an idea from Colton Williams' grandmother, who passed away from cancer.
Since 2017, the light show has raised more than $45,000 for cancer research.
On Nov. 4, the town passed a bylaw that restricts large holiday displays, and would require a person to obtain a holiday display permit.
The bylaw would also allow the clerk to impose certain conditions such as the day and times the holiday display can occur, and noise and traffic mitigation measures.
Speaking AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show, Colton Williams says it's unfortunate to see how the town has reacted and said previous administrations were supportive...
"So that bylaw is very broad. It's written very ambiguously and there's so many things in there that are not clearly defined and clearly stated that's made it impossible to do the light show. Nevermind the fact that the bylaw was passed on November 4, when my setup normally begins in early October."
He says he feels like the bylaw specifically targeted his display.
"That's clearly what the bylaw was created about. You can review the minutes on the Town of Kingsville's website, and in the minutes the Williams Light Show is mentioned multiple times, and that was the only reason why this bylaw was created."
Williams says he his and family have decided to move away from the town, leaving him both happy and sad at the same time.
"Kingsville is not what it used to be, and I know I'm only 28 years old and a lot people say the town isn't the way it used to be and they're in their forties and fifties and they've seen it for a long time, but I haven't seen that long, but I can see just in the years that I've been in town that it's changed so much. So you know what, I am looking forward to moving to a new municipality that actually will support the light show and will help out."
Mayor Dennis Rogers also joined The Dan MacDonald show and says earlier this year the town had a conversation with the Williams family.
"I think we all kind of agreed both sides that it was kind of clear that the light show had outgrown the neighbourhood. So at that point we had multiple discussions with the family, just in terms of is there other opportunities, maybe in a public space and different spots, places for them to be able to grow, unfortunately we couldn't come to terms on that one."
He says the town then put out a survey to gather feedback on the light display, and says while they found that a lot of people enjoyed it, there was the other side who had issues.
"We had to listen to those that were directly affected of course. You look at the survey results, the closer you got to the light display, obviously the more that it affected people. Council's goal was to find some common for the event and events like this to continue and go on, but also provide some support for some neighbours."
Rogers says the family was approached and offered time to delegate at the council meeting.
Following the bylaw approval, he says the family was again invited to town hall to answer any questions to help them put on a display this year.
"Unfortunately both those options, the family didn't take us up on either of those options so obviously we're very saddened to hear that they're leaving."
Williams says that he working with the Town of Essex and County of Essex and anticipates the return of the light show in 2026.
