Street Light Installation Policy

The following guidelines shall apply to the installation of street lights by the Town of Chincoteague, Inc. on roads under the jurisdictional boundaries of the Town:

1) The Public Works Committee of the Chincoteague Town Council shall act on behalf of the Council to receive and consider all requests. The Public Works Committee shall also consider and locate street lights as may be deemed necessary in the absence of any requests.

2) Requests for street lights shall be in writing. Such requests shall be considered at monthly Committee meetings.

3) Generally, street lights shall be installed on publicly owned streets, in accordance with the minimum requirements set forth in (5), below. Street lights may be installed on privately owned streets provided such streets serve more than one household and are publicly accessible. On privately owned streets without power poles, it shall be the responsibility of the requester(s) to provide the necessary electrical feed and poles for street lights; the Town shall provide the street lights and pay the monthly cost of such lights. The Town shall determine the placement of lights on such privately owned streets.

4) Developers of all subdivisions created after September 28, 1995, are required to provide the necessary electrical feed and poles for street lights and bear the expense of such, for the new subdivisions. The Town will pay the monthly cost of the subdivision street lights. Street lights shall be installed in subdivisions in accordance with the minimum requirements provided in (5), below.

5) The following requirements shall be observed in considering placement of street lights:

a) Street lights shall be installed in such locations as would best illuminate fire hydrants.
b) Street lights shall be installed at the intersections of streets, lanes, or other publicly accessible rights of way.
c) Street lights shall be installed not closer than on alternating power poles (every other pole), except as necessary to comply with the requirements of a & b, above. In the absence of existing power poles, lights and poles shall be approved by the Committee or their authorized representative.
d) In addition to the above stated minimum requirements, the Committee may consider on a case by case basis, the necessity of street lights to provide safety and security; e.g., a street light may be placed at the site of reoccurring vehicular accidents or repeated criminal events.