Council to see the light(s)
SECURITY LIGHTING DISCUSSION INVITED
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

City Councilman Rick Pratt doesn't want to eliminate security lights around homes in Port Aransas. He just wants them not to bother the neighbors.

"I've had more than a dozen phone calls in the last six months, complaining, and if I go back a couple of years I could double that (number)," Pratt said. "It's a common item of conversation (among Port Aransans)."

Pratt has asked that a discussion of security lighting be put on the council agenda for the June 19 meeting, and he wants the people who have complained to him to come to that meeting. It's scheduled for 5 p.m. in the council chamber, 710 W. Ave. A.

Pratt said he understands the need for security lighting. However, he said, some people "come to Port Aransas, buy a house, put up a light, and leave."

"There are people who don't know (it bothers neighbors), and those who don't care," he said.

Pratt wants the council to look at the possibility of adding language to city codes that will control where such lights can shine. He pointed out that technology exists to prevent lights from shining into neighbors' houses and lawns. That includes putting shields on the lights that allow them to shine only downward.

Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Becky Corder said the matter has not come before the commission for official action, but she agreed that there's talk about intrusive security lighting.

"When we discussed putting it on the (planning and zoning) agenda, several members said they'd heard complaints," Corder said.

She noted that lighting controls are addressed in the city's commercial zoning (CZ) overlay, which controls zoning in certain sections of the city, but that nothing exists to govern residential lighting.

Pratt agreed that, after discussion, the council would send the matter to the Planning and Zoning Commission for hearings and a subsequent recommendation before taking it up as a proposed ordinance. The proposal would then require three readings and approval before it becomes an ordinance.

"That would help solve the light pollution problem that's building," Pratt said. "It's harder to see the stars now than it used to be."