I applaud Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto and the other town board members and legislators for their initiative to replace the outdated streetlights in our town. Doing so will provide greater safety and a more attractive community for our residents.

The fixtures that we have currently are not only ugly in the color of their illumination, they are also dangerous and intrusive in the amount of glare they spill out of the sides and into the sky. When you drive down Newbridge Road for example, you see a series of the standard glaring fixtures that reduce visibility to the pavement and are hard on the eyes, particularly for those with aging eyes.

Hopefully the town will replace such fixtures with flat lens "full cutoff" lighting that send the illumination straight to the ground where needed, eliminating glare. Many other communities are in the process of employing this technology to reduce light pollution.

Our efforts, however, should not stop there. Many of our residents suffer from "light trespass" where lighting from the town, businesses, schools or LIPA glares across property lines and into our windows, invading our privacy and disturbing our sleep. Recent studies suggest serious adverse health effects related to the regular practice of sleeping in a lighted room. LIPA is the biggest offender in this area, as they actually lease to business owners the worst possible fixtures and leave them on from dusk to dawn, in clear violation of town code. This lighting is pure energy waste and pollution and goes far beyond the need for security, where motion sensors and other devices are a better option.

The town should also be wary of projects where "Old Towne" types of lampposts with acorn shaped post top lights are installed as an economic development tool. These lights, while charming in the daytime, are the most inefficient, glaring and dangerous. They do not draw people like moths to spend money aimlessly as seems to be the way they are advertised On Main Street in Huntington and in Levittown, they burn through the night, even from 1 to 5 a.m. on deserted streets, as a complete waste of energy. The glare they send out provides no security, only shadows in which potential villains could hide.

The town, thankfully, has begun to address these issues. No resident should have their property violated by unwanted illumination. Common sense lighting practices will make our community a more attractive place for businesses and residents alike.

Gary Citro