Thousands of people come to Santee each holiday season to enjoy elaborate displays in about 75 homes in the East County neighborhood known as Starlight Circle, but the beloved event is not without its problems.

In addition to the festive Christmas scenes, lights, music and hot chocolate, there is traffic, noise, trash sellers and the sidewalks in front of homes on West Glendon Circle and East Glendon Circle, the streets that make up the Starlight Circle neighborhood. City officials are considering ways to work with residents to alleviate these problems without taking control of the event or requiring permits.

The Santee City Council last week approved the first reading of an ordinance that will allow the city manager to declare and enforce rules and regulations on privately sponsored events that affect city functions. The addition to the Santee municipal code would allow the city to deploy resources to protect the public health, safety and welfare of people during the event.

The second reading is scheduled for October 23.

Mayor John Minto said this action is a first step in trying to find a balance between helping the community event and not taking over.

“We want to be as little of a big brother as possible,” he said. “It’s mainly about giving us a first step to help the community. Many people worry about things that happened in the past. »

The city already provides trash cans, signage, parking at nearby Santana High School and is temporarily banning parking on Tomel Court, a small street that leads to Starlight Circle from Magnolia Avenue.

Additional regulations have not yet been proposed, but Assistant City Attorney Tari Williams said they could regulate traffic, noise and hours of operation, require portable restrooms and ban vendors or the shows.

City Council Member Rob McNelis, City Manager Marlene Best and City Marketing Director Bree Osborne met with approximately 20 Starlight Circle residents on Sept. 30 to discuss the proposed change in advance of the council meeting.

“We want to start by recognizing that you don’t need us to host your event,” Best said at the Sept. 30 meeting. “I think it’s become a huge asset to our community.” But because it is so popular, we need to find ways to mitigate the impact it has on the rest of the community.

Best said a meeting held in the neighborhood last year resulted in some ideas for the city to help alleviate issues related to the event.

“What we’re doing now is making sure that legally, the city manager has a way to work with neighborhood groups to ensure that some of these things happen without requiring you to go in and get a use permit temporary or minor conditional use. permit or any other type of permit,” she said.

Although the new ordinance was prompted by holiday event issues, Best said it would apply to all large private events held in the city.

A resident attending the Sept. 30 meeting asked if the city could provide security. Best said the city could only do this if the event was sponsored by the city.

“We’re trying to thread the needle and bring you as much as possible, without limiting ourselves and taking over the event entirely,” she said.

Another resident said food vendors were a significant problem on Tomel Court because they blocked the sidewalk and forced people, including some in wheelchairs or pushing strollers, out onto the street.

The woman said the sheriff’s department would not respond to a call about the issue and that she was asked to file a complaint through the city’s app.

McNelis said the sheriff’s department should address the issue because blocking the sidewalk is a safety issue. He also said he would speak to someone in the department about the problem, and he gave those in the room his personal number to call if they continued to have similar problems.

Best also said vendors must be mobile and are not allowed to set up a booth that blocks the sidewalk.