The controversy is settled.  Steve Luciani, owner of Coachlight Carpets in Centerville, and designer of the famous Beechwood Cemetery intersection corner pieces for 20 years, has earned his right to remain decorating the corner– for now.

A letter to the editor written by Ralph Schwartz was published in the Cape Cod Times about how the corner pieces were “tacky” and “disrespectful” regarding their close proximity to the cemetery. This letter was also sent to the Mass. Department of Transportation.

The Department of Transportation then had to decide if Luciani was allowed to continue decorating.  They claimed he had only two weeks to remove the corner piece, because the land is state property and that Luciani had to appeal to MassDOT state highway safety regulations.  The community banded together in order to repeal this.

A Facebook page was created and quickly grew to 4,500 Luciani supporters, which gained momentum to fight for his corner displays.  Even state Representative, Brian Mannal, headed to Boston to discuss the curbside issue.

More research, citing documents from 1934 about state and town property, showed that the property housing the displays belongs to the Town. The State didn’t have any right to remove Luciani from the property, and the Town decided to allow the displays.

In order to remove any future problems, an Adopt a Spot contract was drawn up, enabling Luciani to have the spot for three years before renewing the contract.  After this was put in place, all electricity, including lights and the waterfall, had to be removed in order meet safety codes.  Luciani explained that he plans on using solar power in place of electricity for future displays.

As for Luciani’s future projects, he wants to continue his work on the Centerville playground.  So far he has included more toys for children and is making the playground handicap accessible.  On October 25th, Luciani is hosting a pumpkin festival at the playground.  This festival will include a powdered-donut eating contest, pumpkin decorating and carving, and crafts for kids. The festival starts at 10:00 am and ends when the pumpkins are gone.