Expert: John Fuller - 11/26/2007

Question
Hello, my question is similar to the recent one on video surveillance by a neighbor.  We live on a very private, (formerly )dark, dead-end street.  Several years ago a new neighbor moved in, started leaving his house lights and gate lights on all night, and started filming the neighborhood from the front of his house.  Our bedroom window faces his lights.  We asked them to turn off the light at night so we could sleep.  He lowered the wattage and installed a strip to reduce the glare toward our window, but we still had to install new blinds inside and another outside to make the room dark again.  We have lost the enjoyment of our front yard and the natural moonlight and startlight as a result.  He told us he needed a certain level of light to use his video surveillance camera.  We thought this was the end of it until he recently petitioned the city to install a new street light that would increase the light coming into our window by a large amount.  He has all the neighbors stirred up because he has caught a few petty incidents on his camera, like kids necking in their car in front of our house, and someone trying the cars doors to see if they are unlocked.  Everyone except us believes that more lights and cameras will make them safer.  We have gone to our city and are trying to stop the street light installation.  Do we have any rights regarding the enjoyment & use of our property, as well as the preservation of our privacy in the front of our own property?  Note that we also have a sharp uptick in reported "incidents" on our street thanks to his dilligence, so it looks like a mini crime wave is in progress.  I'm afraid this will reduce our property value overall.  We have lived in our house for 20 years and the neighborhood, overall, is extremely safe. We have only felt unsafe since he arrived and turned on the lights.  Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Rosanna,

I am sorry to hear about these privacy issues because they are near and dear to my heart.  My own personal opinion of this is that unless your neighborhood has a high crime rate and/or your neighbor has suffered home robberies, the requirement for an elaborate security system that lights up the area would seem extreme at best.  Blasting your home with artifical light without consulting with you on this would appear not to be so neighborly.  First thing I would do would be to check zoning laws that pertain to your town.  Many times they have specific checks and balances against these types of things; I know they do in my townhome complex.  That would apply to a street light also in my opinion because that is a taxpayer funded piece of equipment that is placed because of safety factors either needing the light for a stop or cross walk area or for crime purposes. Crime purposes have been held up in court as supporting street lights but that would be based upon more violent crimes, gangs, etc.  Filming others would seem to violate privacy if they have a reasonable expectation of that privacy.  Your best bet is to enlist the support of others in your neighborhood and explore the possibility of seeking an attorney to file a class action petition or civil suit to stop this.  You will need your own facts to back you up like you have written here.  The other thing to do is to go to your State Legislature representative and ask him/her what State law covers these incidents. I suspect there is a law or executive order that does.  I certainly understand your concern and would address it immediately before your own city government approves the street light.  Privacy is a sacred thing but is unfortunately not a protection under the Constitution except for unlawful search and seizure but you do have an expectation of being able to pursue happiness.  Hope this helps, good luck and lights out!  

John