http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/news_f3cc515663cd61da00a9.html
Tuesday, December 16
Store owner fights display ban
By Sarah Eisenhauer, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 2, 2003
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."
