By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

Residents in the Champlain on the Lake subdivision in Cicero can’t seem to agree on a proposal to add more streetlights to their neighborhood.

Several residents spoke during a public hearing at the Sept. 13 Cicero Town Board meeting. Patricia Keating, of Steamship Manhattan, said she collected signatures from her neighbors in support of installing up to 26 streetlights on Riverside House Path, Steamship Manhattan, Emmons Mercantile and Baldwins Island.

Keating submitted a petition to the town clerk that contained 56 signatures out of 79 homeowners in Champlain on the Lake.

“Seventy percent of the people want these streetlights,” she said.

However, a handful of residents at the public hearing spoke out against the proposal.

“The lack of streetlights is one of the reasons that my family and I moved to this neighborhood,” said Brian Meigel, a resident of Riverside House Path. “We enjoy being able to go out at night, see the stars. We like that it’s dark enough to leave your windows open and not have light pouring into your windows all night, keeping you up.”

Meigel said the previous neighborhood he lived in had bright streetlights.

“You could never quite shut out the lights, no matter what you did, how many blinds or curtains you put up,” he said.

Meigel said he has no concerns about Champlain on the Lake’s safety at night. “I’ve walked up and down those streets all hours of the night, walked my dog, my kids have been outside,” he said. “Never had an issue. I’ve never felt unsafe.”

Mike Lozito, of Riverside House Path, echoed Meigel’s opinion, calling “concerns with the darkness … unfounded.”

Lozito said streetlights ruin the aesthetics of a neighborhood, citing a nearby development that has tried to mask unsightly streetlights with “ugly evergreens.”

“The burglary that took place this year on Riverside House Path was in the middle of the day,” said Robert Donnabella, also of Riverside House Path. “It was not at night.”

Donnabella also protested the cost of the lights. He said he and his wife cannot bear the increasing burden of property taxes.

“We’re trying to find other sources of income. We’re both retired, but we’re on a fixed income, and we just cannot afford any more taxes,” Donnabella said.

Despite their neighbors’ objections, Keating and Pam Creamer, a resident of Emmons Mercantile, held fast to their support of the proposal.

“Although I hear their concerns, it really is a safety issue,” Keating said of her neighbors’ opposition.

Keating said aesthetics would not be an issue.

“They’re not the big ones that hang out over the road,” she said. “One of them is going right in my front yard.”

Creamer said one of the proposed lights, as seen on the map in the Sept. 13 meeting attachments, would be located in her front yard as well. She said she was happy about the prospect of additional streetlights.

“My grandchildren live in that neighborhood. They often come to see me,” Creamer said. “It gets dark very early during the winter. So when they’re walking home, I’d like to know that there are streetlights out there.”

Creamer added that there are many cars, pedestrians and pets in the “very active neighborhood.”

“I’d like to see us all be safe,” she said.

The town board decided to hold off on voting for the Champlain on the Lake streetlights. Supervisor Mark Venesky said the board would confirm the number and location of streetlights in the proposal and would revisit the issue at the Sept. 27 town board meeting.

A similar proposal for additional streetlights in the Lisi Gardens subdivision passed unanimously; no residents spoke either in favor of or against the Lisi Gardens proposal during the public hearing.