Debate Over Vintage Street Lights Heats Up

A plan to rip out existing Sherman Oaks ornamental lampposts with acorn-shaped globes and replace them with more modern street lights is a pretty dim idea, if you ask homeowner activist Richard H. Close.

The 10- to 12-foot cement posts with the misty, frosted-glass top--constructed in the 1930s--have historical value, he said. They add charm to Sherman Oaks neighborhoods south of Ventura Boulevard, he said.

“This project is unwanted, apparently unnecessary and [city officials] want to raise the taxes of the people to do it,” Close said.

But to the public works officials who oversee street lighting, the poles near the intersection of Kester Avenue and Sutton Street are outdated and too expensive to operate and maintain.

Eventually the lights must be replaced, said Stan Horwitz, a division manager for the city Bureau of Street Lighting. “We’re trying to give [residents] good service at a fair cost,” he said.

Besides, the existing lights aren’t up to standards set by the Illumination Engineering Society of North America, thus making the city vulnerable to lawsuits should a pedestrian trip or a motorist strike a bicyclist.

The cost of the project, he added, is up to area residents.

With the older lights, a homeowner with a 50-foot frontage, for example, pays an annual street lighting maintenance assessment--under the rubric of property tax--of about $75. The area can be made brighter with modern lights for only $50 annually, he said. Because they disperse light in all directions rather than focus it on the ground alone, lights similar to the acorn lights require more bulbs for the same brightness. Anticipated cost: $130 annually.

Officials plan to meet with affected residents and the lighting style will be chosen via a questionnaire for residents.

The City Council will probably hold public hearings before making the final decision. Once a project is settled on, Horwitz said, installation would take 2 1/2 years.