MHA says St. John's council 'antics' slow the solution of Battery lights dispute

The Newfoundland and Labrador government is willing to amend provincial legislation to help the City of St. John's deal with a dispute over a security lighting system in the historic Outer Battery neighbourhood, says a city MHA.

MHA John Abbott, a cabinet minister who represents the district of St. John's East-Quidi Vidi, said Monday the province is willing to amend the City of St. John's Act to allow the city to usher in a bylaw against "nuisance lighting."

"The residents of the Outer Battery came to me out of their frustration with the response from city hall," Abbott said. He said asked Municipal and Provincial Affairs Minister Krista Lynn Howell if the City of St. John's Act would let city council deal with the problem.

"The result of that conversation was an amendment to the act, to allow them to create a bylaw, was probably the best route to go and we at the province are prepared to do that."

Abbott said Mayor Danny Breen turned down the idea of an amendment when it was first brought up. 

Earlier Monday, protesters gathered at city hall in St. John's, demanding the city deal with the simmering feud in the Outer Battery neighbourhood, where homeowner Colin Way has installed bright floodlights that have prompted complaints from neighbours.

Some long-term residents of the neighbourhood have said their quality of life is being disrupted in the quiet, picturesque area, which dots one side of the harbour with colourful houses clinging to the cliff.

But both the mayor and deputy mayor have said there isn't much the city can do about it. Abbott said he's "amazed" by the city's "antics" in response to the situation so far.

On Monday, Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O'Leary brought forward a motion during the city's weekly meeting for the city to ask the provincial government to amend the City of St. John's Act to allow the city to enact a nuisance lighting bylaw.

The motion lost 8-1.

The situation has been bubbling since November but residents have been complaining about Way for over a year. 

More than 3,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the city to introduce a "nuisance lighting bylaw."

"The Battery has become the poster child for light nuisance in St. John's, but it's not about the Battery. All over St. John's people are complaining about lights," said resident Christina Smith at the rally. She said they gave the mayor and councillors a list of areas with similar complaints to those of of Battery residents, as well as the results of an access-to-information request about light problems in St. John's.

She said the city has responded with "no infraction, no action required."