West Deer resident says he can't escape streetlight's glare into his home

When Adam Fusan moved into his West Deer home 10 years ago, there wasn’t a streetlight at the corner of Saxonburg Boulevard and McKrell Road.

One was installed in July at the request of township supervisors.

Fusan, who lives on Saxonburg, said it’s impacting his everyday life.

“It’s driving me insane,” he said. “It’s making me angry every day.”

The streetlight belongs to Duquesne Light. It’s across the street from Fusan’s house. He can see it from his living room.

“My property is a valley. The light is on the hillside. I’m on the valley side. That whole valley is lit up like a parking lot,” Fusan said. “My living room wall, it’s lit up. I don’t even need to turn my lights on (at night) in my living room anymore.”

For the last several months, Fusan has attended township meetings to complain about the light. He said he will continue complaining until it is taken down.

Township officials say the light was put there for safety reasons.

“There used to be a light there, but a car accident sheared the pole. When the pole was replaced, the light wasn’t,” township Manager Dan Mator said. “The board informally agreed to have me direct that to be replaced. They saw no reason to object given the facts they were presented.”

Supervisors Vice-Chairman Richard W. DiSanti Jr. said he has periodically asked about replacing the light during his tenure.

“I’m just thinking of the welfare of the people that use that intersection on a daily basis or are unfamiliar with the road,” DiSanti said. “It is a dangerous bend. It’s a sharp bend to the right coming off of Saxonburg Boulevard on McKrell Road, a sharp bend to the left coming off of McKrell Road. It’s an intersection that benefits from a light.”

Matt McDonald, a spokesman for Duquesne Light, said the company installed a light at the intersection at the request of the township “to ensure safe passage through the intersection.”

Despite DiSanti’s concerns, officials say the intersection is relatively safe.

McKrell Road is a township road. Saxonburg Boulevard is a state road. According to PennDOT, from 2014 to 2018, no “reportable” crashes occurred at the intersection. Such crashes involve an injury or death or when a vehicle needs to be towed from the scene.

About 2,771 vehicles use that portion of Saxonburg Boulevard per day.

Fusan said no car crashes have occurred at the intersection for as long as he’s lived there. West Deer police Chief Jon Lape also said there have been no crashes there.

“There’s been no accidents there, and I guess you can go back as far as saying there was no accidents when the streetlight wasn’t there,” Lape said.

Still, he said, “anything that makes an intersection brighter is always a help.”

Fusan said he wouldn’t mind the light being there if it was necessary.

“I don’t want people getting hurt,” Fusan said. “But there is not one police report or any evidence that says there was ever anything here or needs to be one here.”

McDonald said Duquesne Light is working with the township to address any concerns related to the light. DiSanti said the township and Duquesne Light made adjustments to the light after residents expressed concerns.

“They relocated it. They changed the position of it. They changed the angle of it,” DiSanti said.

Fusan’s neighbors don’t have any problems with the light.

Kenneth Stallard, who lives on Saxonburg Boulevard with his wife and father-in-law, said he likes that he’s able to look outside and see the road.

“I think my wife had an issue with it at first, but they had turned it,” Stallard said. “It was more or less turned on McKrell Road, and then they came and turned it around. If anything, it’s safer than not having it.”

Mator said a solution would be to add a shield to the light to stop it from shining in the direction of Fusan’s house. He said Duquesne Light said the township would have to pay for the time to install the shield, and that he authorized that.

Fusan said a shield wouldn’t stop him from wanting the light to come down.

“That light’s still going to shine on the hillside across the street, in the street and act as a giant reflector. There’s just no need for it,” Fusan said.

In addition to the light bothering him, Fusan said he doesn’t want to pay an extra $35 a year in property taxes because his property is lit by the light.

According to the township ordinance, if any part of a person’s property within 150 feet is lit by a township streetlight, the Tax Collector adds a “Streetlight Assessment” to their property tax bill in the amount of $35 a year per affected parcel.

Mator said the reason for the fee is because people who live near streetlights benefit from the safety they provide.

“Whether a resident wants a light or not, the ordinance states they are responsible for the assessment,” Mator said.