When the Outdoor Lighting Bylaw was passed in 2016, property owners with existing light fixtures were given ten years to comply. The ten-year grace period is up on January 25, 2026.
Councillors were reminded of that at their May 28 General Committee meeting. At that meeting, staff were before council, recommending that the bylaw be repealed and replaced with an updated bylaw.
Although most of the changes are due to a reorganization of the bylaw, there have been some significant changes, noted Corey Crewson, By-law Enforcement Officer for the Town of Huntsville.
Among the changes, architectural lighting and landscape lighting must be turned off between the hours of 11 p.m. and sunrise the following day. Crewson told the committee that there are some exemptions within that section as well. For example, if a car dealership uses lights for security purposes, although they are not required to turn their lights off after 11 p.m., they must reduce the intensity of the lights to no more than 2000 lumens.
Another example given by Crewson involves the lighting of paths on a residential property. “Any lights that are used for traversing a property have to be put on motion sensor lights and also have a time installed on it, and within that section Town facilities are exempt as well,” said Crewson.
The bylaw also includes a section (6.2) for individuals seeking an exemption from the bylaw for a special event or other purposes; they can submit their request to the appeals committee.
Section 12 of the bylaw was also added to allow for the issuance of administrative penalty notices for non-conforming lights whereas the previous bylaw did not include fines.
The bylaw encourages the use of low-wattage lights that are oriented downward to minimize glare and light trespass throughout the municipality.
At the meeting, Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock emphasized the importance of a communication strategy to inform residents of the municipal outdoor lighting requirements. Crewson said he’d be working with the communications department to inform residents about what is allowed.
Huntsville Councillor Bob Stone has been championing dark sky-friendly lighting for approximately ten years. He said it’s important not only for wildlife but those who come from cities to see the sky here.
“We’re trying to get people to buy in before we have to start enforcing it through the bylaw,” said Stone.
He’s also hoping staff will turn their attention to signs, particularly backlit signs.
You can find Crewson’s report, including changes to the bylaw HERE.
For more information click HERE.
All decisions of the General Committee must be ratified by Huntsville Council for final approval.
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Will this by-law apply to those annoying, bright flashing lights along the shoreline where residents have open water protecting their docks? There should certainly be safety lights but do they need to be so bright and constantly flashing?
Let me guess… Mr Stone owns a lighting store or some kind of tourist accommodation /attraction ? If not what prompted really prompted the bylaw ?
Is there a cannabis growing operation that initiated the light pollution laws ; Ive seen that scenario in s.ont… Are you installing new street lights with lower wattages? But then, would car and pedestrian traffics visibilty be impacted? You state car dealerships, what about malls and parks and the list goes on???
While I can understand back in ’16s attempt to quash a growop entity’s possible lumen pollution, this keeps talking expenses to the community benefitting a specific retail sector which is what prompted this line of questions..
Next big question; in the 9 yrs what has been the level of compliance ? Especially with everyone struggling to stay in the black; lets just add a little more expense to the bottom line.
I get the “we have a beautiful area” and tourist dollar are paramount but seriously it doesnt take but a few minutes walk / drive away from the core and skies will and do reveal their wonders. Speaking from experience as I to am a resident of our wonderful hwy 11 core and just outside of a well lit community. Yet our evenings spent fireside have yielded endless exposure to the creator’s wonderous skies and a look north reveals the dome of light from that community.
So I do hope the bylaw can be modified to be easier on pockets as were all struggling these days; but to think youre going to be able to stargaze in town with all these lighting laws is quite preposterous. Might I suggest locating areas that visiting tourists can access easily while in your area that offer the views youre trying to achieve as a place to start.
Deborah, I think that we should encourage everyone to phone the bylaw office and ask for an explanation why nothing is being done. I can see that the town are making some effort to hide the eyesore but not successfully.
Thank you for your support.
Madeline Humphreys you are so right. Unfortunately it has been there so long that we who live around here are blind to the blight. There is no reason why the space can’t be spruced up with a nice fence and some grass seed or plants. I know the lot doesn’t belong to the Town, but it is the responsibility of the Town to ensure that Huntsville is presented in a way that reflects the personality and aesthetics of Huntsville. We are a tourist town and the perceptions and opinions of our beautiful Town by our incoming visitors is so very important to our economy.. What do you think ?
The powerful new lights at the entrance to Huntsville Public School are lighting up the houses across the street like a nighttime baseball game. Surely lights could have been chosen that point downward at the ground and not at the neighbors’ windows
Am I the only person who finds it ironic that we are concerned about the visitors and the night sky, but not about the eyesore on our main street.
The first view of our main street is an orange fence, wrapped around a derelict corner, complete with a squatter who has set up in the center.
There are bylaws in place which forces a property owner to maintain their property and if noncompliant the town does the work and tacks it on to the owner’s tax bill.
Why is this not enforced. Grass and a decent fence should be demanded.
I think that the townspeople should start making phone calls. The squeaky wheel…..
It is great that we have bylaws in the Town of Huntsville, but as it was explained to me they cant be enforced as we are under the District of Muskoka so that means the police has the right to enforce only. So what happens if someone doesn’t comply with a town Bylaw? We need clarification….
Look forward to this project. I have some concerns about the type of lighting. I have observed lighting on a building on Center St that probably conforms but is so bright all night that I can play finger shadows on my two bedroom walls in my condo. About 200 feet away