Public Service Announcement: Are Your Lights Too Bright? 

One of the things most people love about Bear Valley is being able to see so many stars at night. That beauty can be easily outshined by too-bright exterior lights as well as bright interior lights shining through uncovered windows. 

In our recent Membership Survey, a few people mentioned that light pollution is starting to become a problem. Did you know that it’s also against the official rules? The Bear Valley Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (a.k.a. “The CCnRs”) that govern all sorts of things in the New Subdivision states in Article VI, Section 14*:

“No exterior lighting fixtures shall be installed without adequate and proper shielding to provide a primarily downward projection of the light source, so as to prevent creating a nuisance, hazard or glare to neighbors, passing pedestrians or vehicle traffic. Interior lights should be screened or located to avoid intruding on the view from the outside.”

Ideally exterior lights are on a motion detector; they should not be left on all night. If your neighbor’s lights seem extra bright, try talking to them; if the problem persists, contact BVRI at info@bvri.org and we’ll get in touch with them to remind them about the rules.  

*All New Subdivision homeowners are required by law to abide by the CCnRs. BVRI recently converted the old PDF into a searchable, linkable Google Doc that is linked from the Architectural Review Committee page on our website.