An owner says an HOA streetlight shines into their bedroom. What should the board do?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 19, 2026

How an HOA board handles a streetlight or common area light glare complaint: find out who owns the fixture, then try aiming, shields, dimmer or warmer LEDs, and timers.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Take the complaint seriously, but do not turn off or remove a light because one owner asked. First find out who owns the fixture, because that decides who can change it. Then look at the light at night from the owner's window, and work through the fixes from cheapest to most expensive: re-aiming a tilted head, adding a shield on the house side, a lower-output or warmer lamp, a timer or motion control for common area lights, and only then moving the pole. Most complaints get resolved at the first or second step. Lighting rules vary by city, county, state and the community's governing documents, and a utility's tariff can limit what changes it will make, so treat this as general education rather than legal advice.

Find out who owns the light

Streetlights in an HOA usually fall into one of three groups. Some are owned and maintained by the electric utility, and the association pays a monthly charge per light under a lighting agreement. Some are owned by the association, which pays the utility only for power or pays for a separate meter. Some on public streets belong to the city. A metal tag on the pole with a number usually means the utility owns it. Check the lighting agreement or recent utility bills for a list of fixtures. Florida Power & Light's published service standards show the split clearly: FPL installs, owns and maintains lights under its street lighting rate and a signed street lighting agreement, while a customer-owned system is installed, owned and maintained by the customer, with FPL supplying the power. If the utility owns the light, the board's role is to file the request and follow up. If the association owns it, the board decides and pays. Our guide on who pays for streetlights in an HOA explains the cost side.

Look at it at night, from their window

Ask the owner which room and which window, and set a time after dark when one director can see it from inside or from the yard. Take two photos: one of the fixture from the street and one of the light falling on the house. Note the pole number, the distance from the pole to the window, and whether the head looks level. A surprising number of glare complaints start after a storm knocked a fixture out of level, a delivery truck clipped the arm, or the utility swapped an old orange sodium lamp for a bright white LED. Ask the owner when it started. If the answer is 'last month when they changed the bulbs,' you already know what changed. Also look at what else the light does. If it is the only light over the mailbox kiosk or a set of steps, that limits the options.

Fixes from cheapest to most expensive

Start with aim. A head tilted up even a few degrees throws light sideways into second-story windows, and leveling it can fix the problem in 15 minutes from a bucket truck. Next is a house-side shield, a metal plate that blocks the light thrown behind the fixture toward homes. Some LED fixtures accept a bolt-on shield; others need a different optic or a replacement head. Third, ask for a lower-output fixture or a warmer color. A city lighting specification shown in a Department of Energy municipal streetlight consortium presentation called for 3,000K to 4,000K. The lower number looks warmer and less blue, and it is the one to ask for near bedroom windows. When the association buys fixtures, read the spec sheet for the BUG rating. The U.S. Department of Energy describes BUG as the backlight, uplight and glare rating from the Illuminating Engineering Society's classification system. A lower B number means less light thrown behind the fixture toward the house. For association floodlights on a clubhouse or pond, a timer or motion sensor that cuts output after 11 p.m. often ends the complaint. Moving a pole is the last resort, because it means trenching, a utility work order and often a fee.

Keep the light that keeps people safe

A dark stretch of sidewalk invites trip-and-fall claims and makes the neighbors two doors down unhappy. Before approving any change, ask what the light covers: a crosswalk, mailboxes, a pool gate, stairs, the entrance. If the fix would leave one of those dark, choose a shield or a different optic instead of a dimmer lamp. Tell the owner why. Also check whether other owners on the street care. A short note to the four or five closest homes saying the board plans to add a shield to the light at pole 1234 and asking for comments within ten days avoids trading one complaint for another. If the declaration or a recorded plat requires the lighting, or the city required it as a condition of approving the subdivision, the board may not be free to remove it at all.

Rules from outside the association

Some cities and counties have outdoor lighting ordinances that limit how much light may cross a property line or require shielded fixtures, and they apply to association-owned lights the same as to anyone else's. Coastal Florida communities have an extra layer. Florida Statutes section 161.163 directs the state to designate sea turtle nesting areas and to set guidelines for local beachfront lighting rules, and coastal cities and counties enforce those ordinances during nesting season. If your community is near a beach, check the local ordinance before buying any new fixture. On the utility side, the tariff and lighting agreement control what the utility will install and what it charges. Expect a fee for a non-standard fixture or a relocation, and expect the utility to say no to anything not on its approved list. Our guide on converting HOA streetlights to LED covers the bigger retrofit decision if the whole community is due for new fixtures.

A reply to the owner and a timeline

Answer within a week, in writing. A version you can adapt: 'Thank you for reporting the light at pole 1234 outside your bedroom window. A director looked at it on October 22 and confirmed it shines directly into your second-floor window. The light is owned by the electric utility, and the association has asked the utility to level the fixture and add a house-side shield (request number 5678). The utility estimates two to four weeks. We will update you when we hear back. Because this light also covers the mailbox kiosk, the board will not ask for it to be turned off.' A realistic timeline: week 1, night visit and reply; week 2, utility request or vendor quote; weeks 3 to 6, the fix; week 7, a follow-up look at night. Boards make the same mistakes over and over: they promise to remove a light before checking who owns it, they let a handyman cover a utility fixture with tape or paint, which the utility will undo and may bill for, and they never go back to confirm the shield went on. Write the request number in the minutes so the next board can follow up.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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