Police, residents get together to avoid Candy Cane Lane chaos

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (FOX 11) - It's an annual Christmas event that's been going on for almost 70 years. This year, El Segundo police and residents are getting Candy Cane Lane chaos organized early.

They held a community meeting Tuesday night, focused on solving problems residents ran into last year.

The 1200 block of East Acacia transforms into Santa's North Pole for three weeks around Christmas. It's a tradition that dates back to 1949 and has exploded in recent years.

It's such a big event, it's even a landmark on Google Maps! And the unwritten rule is if you buy a house on what's considered Candy Cane Lane, you have to participate!

"If you go down Candy Cane Lane on opening night, there's thousands of people. It's wall-to-wall people," said Phyllis Langdon who has lived right behind the event for 63 years.

"It's special. It's for the kids. And it's nice to see the kids enjoy it," said Langdon. "It's just sad to see people trash your neighborhood and steal your ornaments and things like that."

Residents say during Christmas, the town is littered, parking is a pain and traffic is so bad you'd think you're going to a Dodgers game. El Segundo doesn't want the liability associated with claiming Candy Cane Lane as a "city" event but police and locals are trying to combat the problems as best they can. At Tuesday's meeting, they suggested more patrol, bigger trash cans and possibly more street sweeping during the event.

"There's going to be no perfect solution but we're going to try to make it as painless as we can for our residents, especially, and for everyone who is going to come out," said El Segundo Police Lt. Raymond Garcia. "I think everyone benefits from a good, planned event. It's a tradition special to El Segundo that sure puts the community in the Christmas spirit."