> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Neighbors need to lighten up - URL: https://www.smdp.com/neighbors-need-to-lighten-up/ - Published: 2007-08-25T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T02:40:52.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Community, Montana, #archive-import *Georgina Avenue residents divided over shedding light* NORTH OF MONTANA Aside from being pegged as one of the priciest corridors in town, dotted with beautiful multi-million dollar homes, this stretch of Georgina Avenue has also become known as a neighborhood cast in the shadow of darkness. That will all soon change, as the 24 residences from Fourth Street to Seventh Street in this northern Santa Monica neighborhood will for the very first time have street lights illuminating their block. But not everyone who lives there is thrilled to be in the spotlight. Even as City Hall seeks a contractor to execute the approximately $231,000 project — half of which will be funded by the residents along Georgina Avenue — neighbors remain divided over the necessity of installing street lights, more than a year after some of them got the ball rolling with a petition. Watering his lawn on Friday afternoon, Louis Morneau said he has mixed feelings about paying for street lights. He wasn’t initially supportive of the measure, but feels that, in the end, more lights might be a good thing. “It’s not cheap,” Morneau said. At issue for many residents is the price tag affixed to the project — though City Hall will pay for half, the average resident along the three-block stretch will end up shelling out approximately $4,800. The homeowners’ assessment will depend on whether their legal address sits on the street receiving the lights or if it is on a cross street of Georgina Avenue, the latter chipping in about $2,400. Concerned for their children’s safety and wary of the increasing amount of shady activities occurring outside at night, several neighbors circulated a petition last year, asking if residents would be willing to open their pocketbooks to fund street lights. “People park there constantly... and they smoke pot and drink,” said Kathleen Zadikian, a mother who helped initiate the petition after noticing several questionable transactions taking place outside her home. The petition received the necessary number of signatures — 60 percent of homeowners on the block — to move the project forward, prompting a series of workshops reviewing the design of the lamps, culminating in an election in October when the measure narrowly passed. The total votes cast in the public hearing last year to approve the project was split right down the middle —12 residents in support and 12 against. The tie-breaker went to the “ayes” because their combined would-be assessment outweighed those opposing the measure, which is accounted for in assessment elections. The outcome of the election established an assessment district along Georgina Avenue. The project calls for the installation of nine Aegean-style ornamental concrete street lights, conduits, pull boxes and electric wiring, according to City Engineer Tony Antich. > “It’s as dark as the eighth circle of hell.” The bidding process for contractors will close on Sept. 12 and the City Council is tentatively scheduled to award the bid on Oct. 23\. Construction should begin shortly after the beginning of the year and be completed within 120 calendar days. Nikolaos Koutouratsas, a retired doctor who has lived in his Georgina Avenue home since 1965, said he prefers the status quo, finding the darkness to be a charm unique to his street. The former radiologist recalls a time when a new doctor was set to join his practice at what was then Santa Monica Hospital. The doctor was living in Palos Verdes and looking for a home in Santa Monica to shorten the commute. Koutouratsas mentioned a home on the market on Ninth Street, but the doctor said there was only one place in Santa Monica where he would consider living — Georgina Avenue, between Fourth and Seventh streets. “He said he wanted to buy a house there because it has no lights,” Koutouratsas said. For many residents that supported the measure, installing street lights is a matter of protecting children. “Anybody with a child wants a street light,” said Ben Fitzgerald, father of three children. “It’s a safe street, but we still need lamps. WHERE ARE THE LIGHTS Contrary to what some Georgina Avenue homeowners might think, their block isn’t unique for its absence of street lights. “There are a lot of areas in the city that don’t have street lights,” Antich said. Such requests are always done through an assessment proceeding, where the cost would ultimately fall on the residents. The only reason why Georgina has never had street lights is because the proposal had never gotten this far. The Noma street is one of many assessment districts in the city. The push to establish the district came at the same time when several residents in Sunset Park were petitioning the city to install street lights. However, their proposal to install lights on 30th Street from Pico Boulevard to Pearl Street never saw the light of day, as it was defeated handily, 19-6\. The election was held concurrently with Georgina’s. A good number of residents along Georgina Avenue are senior citizens, living on a fixed-income. Those who qualify will receive financial assistance, Antich said. “In this case, the city is more of an accom-modater,” Antich said. “(Residents) could do this all on their own, but the approach of the city is to use its ability to do bond financing so residents can pay off the debt to the bond holder over a 10-year period.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 25, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082507.pdf?ref=smdp.com)