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Depoe Bay resident urges prohibition on strobe lights, cites harassment of elderly neighbors
Summary
Resident Pete Eckert told the planning commission that neighbors had been targeted with strobe-style lights that 'pointed directly at our house intentionally,' and asked for explicit prohibition in residential areas; commissioners said the draft lumen/property-line approach likely covers strobes but discussed enforcement challenges.
At a Depoe Bay Planning Commission work session, resident Pete Eckert described repeated use of strobe-style lights aimed at his and adjacent houses and urged the commission to explicitly prohibit strobe lights in residential areas.
"My name is Pete Eckert... strobe lights every night. They pointed directly at our house intentionally," Eckert said, adding that some affected neighbors are elderly and that he has provided video evidence to the city.
Commissioners acknowledged the complaint and discussed how the draft ordinance would treat strobes. Several members said a broad standard — limiting individual fixture lumens and a total-property lumen cap and measuring light spill at the property line — should capture flashing or strobe fixtures as well as continuous bright lights. At the same time, Eckert and commissioners noted an enforcement gap: a problematic neighbor could switch off a light when an inspector arrived, and technical questions remain about who would be trained to use city-certified light meters and how short-duration events would be documented.
Commissioners suggested practical responses: require a city-certified meter for verification of citizen measurements, allow evidence such as resident videos to support complaints, and rely on the nuisance-ordinance complaint pathway for enforcement. Staff said they would accept Eckert's videos and consider language clarifying that flashing or strobe fixtures creating spill onto neighboring properties are treated as violations.
No formal enforcement action was recorded during the meeting. Staff will update the draft ordinance to reflect the commission's guidance and provide the revised text to the city council for next steps.
