BY STEFANIE BOWMANN, Eastern Shore Post —
Northampton County supervisors are revisiting the county’s ordinances on lighting and fences in response to a resident’s complaints about glaring lights and barbed wire.
Janet Riese, of Jamesville, said, “I live in a very dark district, on a private road with no … street lights. It’s very dark, so when you see a light, it’s … bright.”
She had written to supervisors ahead of their May 13 meeting about an unshielded dock light in her community, which is on from sunset to sunrise, 365 days a year, and is causing a nuisance to her and three other neighbors.
She said the light has an output of 4,700 lumens — the equivalent of approximately 260 watts of incandescent light.
“In our environment, we’re living with quite a bit of glare,” Riese said.
She noted that in Northampton’s 2016 lighting ordinance, a light of more than 160 watts was required to be fully shielded to reduce glare.
However, that requirement was removed when the ordinance was updated in November 2023.
The 2016 lighting ordinance allowed certain lights on private residential properties to be exempt from restrictions if “such fixtures do not cause unsafe glare,” but that language also was deleted.
Riese asked why parts of the ordinance had “disappeared,” reducing it from five pages to three.
“I don’t know,” said Chair John Coker.
“For those of us that have neighbors … and I do … lighting can be a pain,” he said. “Some people leave their lights on all night long. It drives me insane.”
Coker said county supervisors will reconsider the ordinance.
Riese noted that the same neighbor also had installed a seven-foot-tall chain-link fence with barbed wire.
Supervisor Betsy Mapp said, “I’d like to see him have to take down the barbed wire. It shouldn’t be in the community.”
“It’s very dangerous,” Coker said.
County Administrator Charlie Kolakowski presented proposed amendments to Northampton’s fence ordinance:
n Fences made of barbed wire or salvaged materials, as well as electrified fences, are prohibited in zoning districts that are primarily residential.
n Fences and walls may not be more than eight feet above adjacent grade. A fence or wall that encloses or projects into a required front yard, or a front or side yard on a street, may not be more than four feet tall.
n A nonconforming fence or wall may not be enlarged, extended, moved, rebuilt, or replaced. Minor repairs may be made, but only to fence boards. Up to 10% or 30 feet of fence boards, whichever is greater, may be replaced in a two-year period.
n A zoning permit is required to build a new fence or wall or to repair or replace more than 10% of an existing fence or wall. A permit is not required for a temporary fence or wall, hedges or shrubbery, dog pens, garden fences, or walls or fences used for agriculture or horticulture.
