Letters to the editor
To the Editor:
While I believe this lighting law to be unnecessary, I am also aware that has never stopped our lawmakers before. In truth, we have a mechanism within current law to handle these complaints. In the one case that has come up since this topic became headlines, the issue was resolved in short order. The building inspector investigated it, spoke with both parties, and a satisfactory resolution was achieved.
It is hard to justify a new law when the old one is largely untried, but here we are, and if I can’t stop it, I must try to detoxify it.
My primary objections have to do with its association with the “dark skies” mystique and the new standard it inflicts on the people of Shelter Island, who, by and large, are a very conservative lot when it comes to lighting of their homes. This is obvious with a casual drive around town at night.
This law currently turns innocent people into criminals if their ideas on lighting differ from that of the architects of the law, inflicting the vision of a few on the many with an unduly restrictive “shielding” standard. There being no such thing as a dark skies standard on the county, state or federal level, I must ask: Is that reasonable? I think not.
But the community has developed a reasonable standard that can be inferred by the nature of complaints. In general, our flood lights are focused downward and away from our neighbors’ houses, our decorative house-mounted fixtures are moderate in intensity, and most of us turn our lights off when not using them. The exceptions prove the rule to exist.
I do believe it possible that we could benefit from some addition to current code to minimize potential issues between neighbors in the future, but that would be more an induction of the existing reasonable standard I’ve already described than the infliction of a new one on our population. The law in front of us is not yet that, and until it is, I simply cannot support it.
In the coming days I am going to advocate some changes be made, to allow people to retain choices otherwise needlessly taken from them. As it stands now, it will be illegal to install new, noncompliant fixtures, and the current draft even discourages beginning the upgrade process with the 25 percent rule, as it mandates changing all fixtures when the cumulative alteration of fixtures reaches that limit. This is counterproductive. There are other things as well.
I ask all of you to remember that no matter what law we use, new or old, it will be complaint-based in its enforcement, which in turn means that you still will have to pick up the phone and drop a dime on your neighbor. I would always advocate that you make every effort to resolve the issue by speaking with the neighbor first. A moment’s courtesy can avoid a lifetime of animosity.
PAUL SHEPHERD
Councilman, Shelter Island Town Board
Simple and concise
To the Editor:
Listening to the “livestream” of the Shelter Island Town Board’s July 2 work session, I was somewhat appalled at the way a couple of board members needled Deputy Supervisor Chris Lewis, who has served on the board longer than any of her current colleagues.
By her own account, Chris spent six months working with Town Attorney Laury Dowd to craft a simple, concise dark skies law, in order to give us a framework to preserve the nighttime views on our beautiful Island.
As Group for the East End President Bob DeLuca pointed out at the June 28 public hearing on this matter, the town should put such a regulation in place before the trend toward excessive outdoor wattage becomes a major problem. And contrary to what some Town Board members seem to believe, we do have a growing problem of nighttime wattage here.
It is my hope that a majority of Town Board members will move to adopt this regulation at its July 19 meeting.
LINDA G. HOLMES
Shelter Island
Act of kindness
To the Editor:
After having a bicycle accident, I was so fortunate to have Mr. Wayne Corbett drive by. He stopped, helped me, put the bike in his truck and drove me home.
After several hours he came over to see if I was all right. I was so lucky to have Mr. Corbett be there. Yes I was hurt, but it all healed, and all I remember is his kindness and caring.
BRANKA NEUMAN
Shelter Island
A brilliant message
To the Editor:
The unique statement at issue reads: “100 percent powered by the sun/son.”
It’s on the “billboard” of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Greenport, and will make more sense if you look at the roof of that church (on Route 25/Main Road, approximately 1.25 miles west from the ferry terminal).
The “message” (and related activity), is brilliant because it:
(1) provides all the electrical needs of the church;
(2) makes a very timely statement about being good stewards to our planet;
(3) is patriotic, as it is another step towards American energy independence;
(4) created employment during planning and installation; and
(5) will save more than $150,000 over its lifetime.
Those solar panels, 100 in all, are designed to virtually eliminate the annual LIPA bill, and it is expected to pay for itself in as few as five years! Certainly not a bad rate of return.
Doesn’t that catch your interest?
Maybe there are ways by which we can also get similar, multiple-returns from some of our community roof tops. Surely, the sun shines just as brightly here on Shelter Island.
And finally, what could be more important than being good stewards to our planet; that truly could be the most brilliant investment ever made.
HERB STELLJES
Shelter Island
