Brookline Voters Table Lighting Bylaw Proposal

BROOKLINE, MA — Voters and officials debated an article aiming to address nuisance lighting in residential areas for more than one hour during the first night of the Special Town Meeting Tuesday night.

The motion was eventually passed to have the article referred to a moderator’s committee by a vote of 147 in favor to 92 opposed with five abstaining due to Town Counsel Joe Callanan asserting that the article as presently constituted would be illegal.

“If adopted, Warrant Article Eight would be illegal as it seeks to regulate an activity through a general bylaw that the town has traditionally regulated through zoning,” Callanan said.
He suggested that the legality issue could be resolved in the future with the article being amended as a zoning bylaw as opposed to a general one.

Prior to the vote, Town Meeting member and article co-petitioner David Tytell presented the article and urged his peers to vote in favor of the original motion despite the risk of it being struck down by the Attorney General.

“This is a nuisance bylaw, enforcement is complaint-driven,” Tytell said. “This applies only to residential areas and light originating from residential properties.”

The maximum allowable light trespass under the bylaw would be .1 foot candle. According to Tytell, that brightness is ten times more than that of a full moon. He argued an overabundance of LED lighting can affect people’s health.

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