Ray Brow likes the look of Water Street in Charlottetown, and says he wants to preserve it.

"This is a very significant artery into the city, but more important, it's the beautification of downtown," he said. "Part of the great efforts that have been going on for decades to making Charlottetown a much more attractive destination."

The local entrepreneur — who has businesses on the street — said he was upset to learn a new overhead wire had been installed across Water Street.

The line was put in place after a new restaurant on the waterfront requested an upgraded power supply. Maritime Electric erected a pole near the restaurant and ran an overhead line across Water St. to connect the service.

One of the restaurant's owners told CBC the business went through all the required approvals and also paid to bury the line from the new pole to the restaurant. But the owner said it had no say as to whether the line from the new pole to the pole across Water Street was buried or strung overhead.

Maritime Electric said it has an obligation to serve customers, so it set up the new service to provide the power.

Burying the line under the street would have cost $30,000-$40,000, according to Maritime Electric spokesperson Kim Griffin.

"The challenge for us is we're governed by the rules and regulations under IRAC [Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission]. So, if we were to go and put underground for one customer and not another, the differential in cost for that would have to be paid for customers all across Prince Edward Island … whether that be paid by the customer or the city or whomever."

Malcolm Lodge who has lived on Water Street for more than 25 years thinks there should be rules for the area. There are currently no bylaws requiring power lines to be buried.

"Over the years, all of these houses have been renovated, and the few that haven't been are getting it … the people that now live in them are proud of them, they spend tens of thousands of dollars to maintain them. I think it's time we have a program in the city and the province to get this stuff underground."

Brow said he'll be asking for a bylaw. "I'm going to be asking for a bylaw to be in place that there should be no additional wires crossing Water Street, and that there should be a program to eliminate the last remaining."

In a statement Mayor Clifford Lee said he talked with Maritime Electric about the lines that were just installed.

"I spoke with the president of Maritime Electric and we were all in agreement that, in order to get the business on Water Street up and running for the July 1 weekend, the pole and overhead wires would be necessary," said Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee in a statement to CBC.

Lee added the topic is now something he expects to be discussing with the power company.

"The Maritime Electric president made a commitment to the city to discuss what to do in this area going forward, in terms of development on the waterfront and operating in support of our beautification investments already made in the area."