ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Residents of a historic Newfoundland fishing village say the City of St. John’s has abandoned them in their fight against a neighbour's powerful floodlights, which they say shine all night into the bedrooms of local homes.
Judy Adler moved to the city’s Outer Battery neighbourhood in 1973, drawn by a fascination with the fishing life that still existed there. She said the peace she enjoyed there for five decades has been shattered by the powerful lights mounted last spring on a nearby shed.
"At night, even with multiple shades, my bedroom isn't dark," Adler said in an interview, adding that the lights make it hard to sleep, which affects her mental health.
"It's way beyond what's normal for security lights. It's more like airport lights,” she said.
On Monday, St. John's city council voted down a motion to ask for a "nuisance lighting" bylaw, though a few councillors made a public appeal to the shed’s owner, Colin Way, to take down the lights.
"We do not have the ability to legislate good neighbours," Coun. Ron Ellsworth said before voting against the motion.
The Outer Battery neighbourhood is perched in the cliffs along the St. John's harbour, and its colourful homes and fishing stages are often featured in the city's tourism advertisements.
The neighbourhood's main road is barely wide enough for a single car. It leads to a dead end and the start of a popular hiking trail that climbs around the back of Signal Hill, which is a national historic site.
Way’s shed is on the south side of the narrow road, just back from the trailhead, and his floodlights are visible from the other side of the harbour.
Christina Smith's house is near the shed. She said Way put up two high-powered lights in May.
"If you even glance at these lights, you get blue spots in front of your eyes for minutes at a time. Not seconds — minutes," Smith said in an interview. "If I just sit up in bed, I get it full in the face."
The province's online deed records show Way has purchased a cluster of Outer Battery properties in the past five years.
Court documents show Way was charged earlier this year with one count of extortion and two counts of mischief by interfering with use of property. His lawyer, Bob Buckingham, said in an email that one mischief charge is related to the lights, and the others are related to other disputes in the Outer Battery. He said Way could not comment further, as the matter is before the courts.
On Monday afternoon, dozens of Outer Battery residents and their supporters gathered for a protest at St. John's City Hall. They watched as the council voted down deputy mayor Sheilagh O'Leary's motion to ask the province to give the city the jurisdiction to institute a nuisance lighting bylaw.
Coun. Ophelia Ravencroft, who represents the Outer Battery area, noted in her dissent that a nuisance bylaw wouldn't solve the issue, as it wouldn't be applied retroactively. Coun. Ian Froude said he was concerned about how "nuisance lighting" might be defined.
In an interview Tuesday, John Abbott, the provincial member of the legislature for the area, pointed to cities including Vancouver and Mississauga, Ont., where such bylaws already exist.
"It is a public nuisance, however you define public nuisance," Abbott said, adding that he hopes the city will "come to its senses and get a bylaw in place." The province is ready to help, he said.
Meanwhile, Adler said she's worried about the future of the neighbourhood where she has lived for nearly 50 years. People visit the Outer Battery for its quiet and for the nighttime view of the city's twinkling lights across the harbour. But that's now gone, she said, because the floodlights overpower the view.
"I live in a pretty shabby house, and the reason it would be hard for me to consider moving is what I have seen for years out my window," she said. "In my stage of life, I ask myself, 'How much longer do I have to see a beautiful night sky?'"
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2023.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said all three criminal charges were related to the lights.
