Plans to light up downtown Minot have run into a snag, which brought members of the Minot Downtown & Professional Association to the Minot City Council meeting Monday.

The association has formed a nonprofit, the Minot Downtown Beautification Association, to be able to accept grants and donations for improvement projects, including the ongoing project to light up downtown with festive LED lighting. Trim lighting already has been installed along the tops of buildings on the east side of Main Street between First and Second Avenues Southeast.

“We intend to continue our light project and plan to install two more blocks of lights before Christmas. With that said, we want to inform you that we will be leaving our lights on until 2 a.m.,” downtown association president Chad Wright told the council.

The association has been turning lights off at 11 p.m. at the directive of Brian Billingsley, the city’s Community and Economic Development director. The directive came following complaints from a downtown property owner who lives and operates a business across the street from existing lights.

“Unfortunately, the good faith effort wasn’t received the way it was intended and we continue to be harassed by this citizen if the lights are on past 11:01 p.m.,” Wright said. “We are a group of volunteers taking our own money and making improvements to the city and we feel we are being handcuffed because one person can see the lights when they look out their window in their commercial business district. Some people want to give us funding to move forward with this project, but they are concerned that the city will force us to turn them off.”

Wright asked the council to clarify its level of support because the association doesn’t want to install more lights if complaints severely limit the hours of lighting.

City Manager Harold Stewart said city ordinance regulates lights at higher elevations, which gives the city the authority to place parameters on the downtown lighting. The solution is to abide by the 11 p.m. lights out or lower the lights, he said.

The city must approve lights installed at 16 feet or higher above ground, and lights must meet the guidelines of DarkSky International, formerly the International Dark-Sky Association.

Downtown resident and property owner Bob Thomas, who was not at Monday’s meeting, said the downtown lights do not comply with DarkSky guidelines. He said he has hired a lighting engineer to complete a report on the downtown lighting, which will be a key piece in a lawsuit he intends to bring against the property owners whose lighted buildings are across from his property at 114 S. Main. Thomas said the unshielded, pulsing, colored lights shine into his living spaces all evening.

“They are very intrusive,” he said. “Even having them on until 11 o’clock is very intrusive.”

He said he has visited with the association and with downtown business owners individually but found them unresponsive to his concerns.

“This is so inconsiderate and irresponsible of the downtown association,” said Thomas, who operates a law practice in his building.

“There are professional businesses downtown,” he said. “We don’t want to be on a carnival midway.”

Stewart said the city has tried to find a neutral, common ground between Thomas and the downtown association.

“City staff is trying to do what they can to preserve the rights to allow the project lights to continue forward in a way that is reasonable in mitigating any potential concerns or requests on the opposite side of the spectrum,” he said.

Council member Mike Blessum said the city should start from the premise that the association is free to do as it wishes as long as ordinances are followed.

“Is there a compelling public interest why they should not be able to do that? I would submit there’s not,” he said. “If there is a compelling public reason, let’s put it in an ordinance so that we can enforce it.”

The council indicated a desire for staff to formally bring the matter to a future meeting to be considered for potential council action.