The battle over greenhouse lighting in Essex County continues.
A nighttime glow around both Kingsville and Leamington is strong enough to be seen from Detroit and both town's crafted by-laws to mitigate the issue in the fall.
Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers have penned a letter to both municipalities in the hopes they can adjust those rules.
General Manager Joseph Sbrocchi says growers want to see the venting period extended throughout the night in Leamington.
As it stands, greenhouses will only be allowed to open 10 per cent of their curtains between 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. and Sbrocchi says that's not enough.
"Depending on the type of crop it is and the time of year, that light would be able to escape," he says. "Please keep in mind it's not the light that we have escape it's the heat and humidity that builds up because of the lights."
He says growers need to be able to vent greenhouses at various points throughout the night as too much heat could "torch" crops.
"It could heat it up so badly that it would kill the tops of them ... the newest buds that eventually become fruit at the very top and they're the most susceptible," he says.
If given the opportunity to speak when council was debating the options, Sbrocchi would have told them the option won't work.
"If they had allowed the experts, the farmers themselves or our science people from OGVG to discuss further, I don't believe they would have actually taken the route that they have," added Sbrocchi.
The growers addressed Leamington Town council on the by-law, but speakers aren't allowed to chime in after council begins its debate.
Mayor Hilda MacDonald says the group was aware of the options in the report well before the meeting.
"The way I see it there was ample opportunity to refute any of the options," she says. "They presented their case and we heard it."
She says a councillor will have to bring forward a motion to reconsider the by-law or the OGVG will have to appeal to the province.
"The next step will be up to them. If someone on council will ask for reconsideration it will go forward, if there isn't anyone, it won't and they'll have to choose the alternative," she added.
Leamington's by-law comes into effect on New Years Day and will require greenhouses to have side and end curtains installed by April 1, 2021 and ceiling curtains installed by Oct. 1, 2021.
In Kingsville, Mayor Nelson Santos says town inspectors are looking into the possibility of amending rules that went into effect in October.