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Residents press Severance council to regulate permanent ‘jellyfish’ holiday lights; council petitions CAB to study
Summary
Residents complained in public comment about permanent blinking/chasing yard lights they say cause light trespass and distress; councilmember Dan Myers petitioned the Citizens Advisory Board to study lighting rules and report back.
At the Feb. 11 Severance Town Council meeting, two residents raised concerns about permanent decorative lights (described by speakers as “jellyfish” lights) that blink or chase in backyards and are visible inside neighboring homes. Elise Keys, who identified her address as 1744 Avery Plaza Street in the Hidden Valley neighborhood, told the council the lights have been left in place and are exempt from the town’s light-pollution rules because the land-use code treats them as “temporary seasonal displays.” Keys said the lights have been on since Dec. 14 in various colors and patterns and that the illumination is visible inside her home each night.
“My home should be somewhere that is safe to come home and relax,” Keys said, describing the lights as “causing severe distress” and asking the council to “please define temporary holiday lights” and regulate the permanent installations the same way as standard exterior lighting.
Skyler Dollinger, who said he lives at the same address, described neighbors’ yards as tightly spaced and said intensity and motion of the lights can be especially disruptive in modern subdivisions where houses are close together. He told council members neighborhood attempts to ask property owners to dim or change their lights did not resolve the problem.
Councilmember Dan Myers commended the speakers and said he would petition the Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) to review outdoor lighting regulations. “What a petition does is essentially takes it from here and we talk to the CAB, which is the Citizens Advisory Board,” Myers said, asking the board to consider options and make recommendations to council. Mayor Pro Tem Vandermark, who said she works in lighting professionally, offered to lend technical expertise to the petition process and to the CAB.
Council members said the town can address the light trespass issue by asking the CAB to study the matter, develop options and, if warranted, recommend an ordinance or code amendment. Several council members noted that claims of malicious intent by neighbors would follow different, non-legislative processes.
The town manager and staff described the next steps as a petition to the CAB; the CAB will consider public input and may recommend changes to the land-use code, which would return to council for work-session discussion and possible ordinance drafting. No code changes were made on Feb. 11.
