To light or not to light will be the question put to residents of Maple Ridge, Freeland’s new senior community.

Residents get a chance next week to voice their opinions in a mailed questionaire over whether to leave the eight street lights on all night or turn them off sometime during the evening. Currently the lights are on from dawn to dusk.

More a matter of security than one of cost or aesthetics, the decision over whether to leave the lights on will come down to how safe the residents of the 41 Maple Ridge condominiums feel. For residents Ruth and Chuck Royal the answer is simple.

“Leave them on all night; it’s a matter of security,” said Chuck Royal.

The Royals said that while living in Seattle several years ago their home was burglarized. Told by a police officer who investigated the crime that the best insurance against home robbery is good exterior lighting, they believe that to this day.

“There is less chance of people snooping around,” said Ruth Royal.

The Royals, who have one of seven of the community’s streetlights in front of their home, agree that whatever ambient light comes into their home at night will be worth the precaution.

Erl Bangston, the Freeland developer who built Maple Ridge, said lighting choices are between using the current schedule or turning them off sometime between 10 p.m. and midnight.

“I hope to get a strong opinion — 70 percent of the residents agreeing one way or the other,” Bangston said.

In addition to the seven large street lights in question, all 41 condos have front yard lights that remain on from dawn to dusk. The street lights contain 150 watt light sources and are shielded in accordance with Island County’s lighting code.

The street lights cost Maple Ridge only a few dollars per month, Bangston said. As the cost of electricity rises and falls, the price for the lighting changes. Bangston said he can’t imagine that cost being a factor in a lighting decision at Maple Ridge.

“I don’t expect leaving them on all night will add much to the condo fees,” he said.

Bangston said he will seek information from the Island County Sheriff’s Office and Island County Fire District 3 about the lighting issue as well.

More lighting will be added to the area once a planned assisted care facility is completed at the site.