SoCal neighborhood forced to scale back annual Halloween celebration by city officials

By Gio Insignares

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    WHITTIER, California (KCAL, KCBS) — What seems like a rather cruel trick instead of a treat this Halloween became reality for one Whittier neighborhood when they were told by city leaders that their beloved annual celebrations would have to be scaled down because they don’t have the resources to handle the event.

Spooky season is a favorite for the neighbors living on Lisco Street, where a litany of elaborate Halloween decorations can be seen adorning nearly every single home. This year, however, it seems that the ghouls and monsters will have to keep the party to themselves after their ghostly bash garnered too much popularity.

“We keep saying it’s a good thing while it lasted,” said Chris Carroll, one of the residents. “It was fun, but it’s just sad.”

Carroll has lived in the neighborhood for nearly two decades and says that he loves going all out for Halloween. He sys that since the pandemic, he and others have really geared up their decorations, hosting a big event on their section of the street.

Since its inception, the event has grown in popularity every year, drawing droves of trick-or-treaters and haunted house admirers. The street is often featured on social media in the days before and after Halloween because of the true holiday spirit.

“They just love it, and we loved scaring them because they were having a good time,” Carroll said.

Despite all the fun, neighbors recently received a letter from an attorney representing the city of Whittier, detailing that their annual event, which they described as something that had “negatively impacted the surrounding neighborhood,” would have to be scaled back.

Attorneys claim that Whittier was forced to spend $6,000 in one night in Oct. 2023 to handle impacts from the event as large crowds packed the residential streets, leading to gridlocked traffic in the surrounding area.

On top of this, a number of complaints regarding noise, traffic, trash and other problems were made.

“I feel a little targeted, actually,” said Miguel DeSantos,” another neighbor. “Like the city is just picking on Lisco Street from corner to corner.”

DeSantos says that he, along with other residents, have spoken with the city on several occasions — before receiving the letter — as they were trying to work on mitigating some of the issues that arose as the crowds grew so they could keep the event going.

“We asked them for traffic control, that king of thing, to help us out,” he said.

Despite this, the city’s response was just to shut the event down entirely, stating that the neighborhood ca host future events if they apply for a special permit, the same that is used for festivals, ceremonies, street fairs and other uses of public space.

Such an application would require a full traffic plan, a list of street closures, security and emergency vehicle access, neighbors said.

In a statement issued to KCAL News, Whittier city officials said that residents are encouraged to decorate their homes for halloween, but that “what began as a small neighborhood gathering along Lisco Street has grown considerably in scale and now presents associated safety concerns within the public right-of-way.”

The recent turn of events has dampened the holiday spirits of those on Lisco Street, who were hopeful that the city would’ve worked with them better to keep the fun going.

“I hope the city, you know, allows us to continue the spirit of Halloween,” DeSantos said.

Neighbors say that in the future it’s unlikely that they’ll apply for one of the special permits due to the elevated cost.

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