TORRANCE, Calif. — Holiday light displays shine bright in Torrance's Sleepy Hollow neighborhood as hundreds of visitors drive and walk by to see the sights. For years, homeowners along Sharrynne Lane have sold hot chocolate, cookies, cotton candy, and other small treats, costing around $3.

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Some homeowners in the area split the sales to help fundraise for nonprofits and their children’s sports teams. 

Each December, Tracey Poepplau has set up a popcorn and cotton candy stand on her front lawn to partially raise money for animal causes she believes in.

“It’s very nice it makes Christmas feel very special,” Poepplau said.

Over the years, the Seaside Holiday Lights set up by the community have turned into a popular attraction that turned the neighborhood event into an area with traffic, trash, and sidewalk vendors setting up shop in front of homes.

After last year’s event, neighbors asked the city for help, which resulted in 20 holiday trash cans, limited parking, and permits required for all vendors in the area to operate on sidewalks with at least six feet of clearance to be ADA compliant.

Poepplau said the new rules have helped so far.

“Amazing, a lot less trash. A lot less people,” Poepplau said.

But in order to limit vendors selling glowsticks and other items as they roam the sidewalks in the community, homeowners like Poepplau had to also pay for the city and county permits that cost her about $200. While she agrees the permits are needed, some homeowners in the neighborhood said they hope the city will find a way to change the permitting process for next year.

“I think this permit doesn’t really apply to us because the Cottage Food [operations permit] is basically when you are going to start a small business out of your home and bake the goods. A lot of us, OK these are boxed brownies, I put the ingredients and the labels on them and this is boxed Pillsbury cookies. This is cotton candy and hot air. That’s basically what people sell. They’re not baking to start a business,” Poepplau said.

While the permitting process seemed a bit excessive for some homeowners, Torrance City Councilman Aurelio Mattucci said it had to be done to help solve some of the issues homeowners had experienced in the neighborhood.

“It was a difficult situation for the City of Torrance. But, in an effort to stay within state law and regulations, we had to make it straight across the board. It’s an all or nothing thing. We can’t ask sidewalk vendors for a license and permitting and not the homeowners. So regrettably, that’s the road we had to take,” Mattucci said.

Aside from permitting fees, homeowners in the area like Poepplau were happy to see how parking restrictions, the additional trash bins and regulations in the neighborhood have brought back their neighborhood charm.

“It’s definitely worth it this year. You can see a big difference,” Poepplau said.

Poepplau will be selling light snacks for the remainder of December’s weekends with the hope of having future changes that will keep homeowners like her in mind and will help keep the holiday spirit alive in her neighborhood.

The Seaside Holiday Lights is not a city-sponsored event. However, the new rules in place were part of a first-year pilot program aimed to solve some of the public safety concerns in the neighborhood.