PITTSBURGH, Pa. —Fairley Road in Ross Township was once a holiday destination for families, but now neighbors warn children to stay away from it.
People would sit in their cars for twenty minutes just to driver around the center house that had thousands of lights and holiday decorations.
In the last decade, Bill Ansell's decorations have gone south.
There are choir figurines that have been decapitated. Plastic tarps and swimming pools are thrown throughout the yard. The only lights shining are bright spot lights, turned on at night and pointed in the direction of neighbor's houses.
The display becomes personal when you view the handwritten signs that are hung on every angle of the house. The signs are vulgar, too vulgar to report verbatim. And the signs list neighbors by name.
Pam Heck is one of those neighbors who sees an offensive sign about her every day.
"To have the signs on the side of his house that are written like that, I can't even tell you the way I feel when anybody visits me. People look, take a double look and laugh, especially people that have never been here before," said Heck.
"You can't bring your grandchildren around or you shouldn’t even have children come up this street," said Tom White, who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years.
Why did the display turn from a holiday destination to a head-turner for all the wrong reasons?
We could not reach Bill Ansell directly for his side of the story, but neighbors say the issue has gotten out of hand over the years.
Heck said she first reached out to Ansell about the display when he started turning the lights on at Thanksgiving.
Sources confirm Ansell would put a lighted arrow in his yard to direct traffic, which he wasn't permitted to do since it was a two way road.
Heck said her family couldn't access her driveway and the lights were shining into the kitchen.
Heck believed things spiraled out of control after this.
Ross Township has been involved in the issue since 2005.
Township manager Douglas Sample said, "Since I've come aboard, we have cited the property owners for code violations. The local magistrate withheld our citations, then the Ansells appealed those to the common pleas court. Common pleas agreed with the township, and it was appealed to the state court. The state agreed with the township and Mr Ansell did not appeal or petition the state supreme court so right now the township is looking at its options to address the issues on Fairley Road."
Sample said the Ansells were ordered by the court to clean the debris in the yard. To date, it has not been cleared.
While Bill Ansell has conducted interviews in the past with WTAE about the display, he could not be reached for comment Monday, neither could his brother, who is the owner of the property.
The township met Monday night to discuss its next step.
OFFENSIVE SIGNS AND "TRASHED" FIGURINES SURROUND A HOME ONCE A HOLIDAY DESTINATION
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Kelly Brennan, WTAE-TV
The display becomes personal when you view the handwritten signs that are hung on every angle of the house. The signs are vulgar, too vulgar to report verbatim. And the signs list neighbors by name.
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