The right to light


To the Editor:


A few anti-light extremists argue that man-made lighting is a pollutant because it is unnatural. This relatively recent belief has led to some very disturbing acts by certain people on the Island. One person stole a light bulb out of a neighbor’s fixture, and one drove over (that’s the key word here, it was too far to walk) and pounded on the door at 9:30 p.m. asking them to turn off their 60-watt porch light because it was bothering him. 


Another stapled an anonymous letter to a “neighbor, from a neighbor” onto the shingles of a new home. Nice behavior from adults! 


This should be good for the local real estate market! We are not talking about a 50-MM candle power searchlight in someone’s bedroom; we’re talking about their ability to see a light. Well, how about a shade?


Is Shelter Island becoming too selfish to only think of what they want? What about the people who have the light? Do they not have any homeowner rights?


Dark Skies advocates seem determined to impose their low-light agenda everywhere, regardless of the needs of the rest of society. They do not have the right to injure other people who do not feel the same way — injury in the form of financial, as well as safety and security, let alone enjoyment at being able to sit on their lit decks at night or walk their dog without fear of falling. 


If Shelter Island is going to limit lighting, then it should be prepared to accept the liability. If a homeowner trips or falls because his lighting was limited by the town, then the town must accept the consequences. We have light laws in our hometown, but it limits the style of lighting for the commercial areas of downtown as well as the ball fields, etc., not the private homeowners. We have too many Constitutional attorneys who live here and they respect the right of the homeowner.


ELIZABETH BUTLER


RUMSON, NEW JERSEY