'It feels like a film set': Office lights next door give Leslieville condo residents sleepless nights

If you can't sleep because your neighbours are blasting music, you can file a noise complaint. But what if it's their lights that are preventing you from dozing off? Well, some east enders found out you can file a complaint for that too.

Residents of a five-storey building near Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue in Leslieville say they've been kept up for years, because the commercial space beside them often keeps its lights on all night.

"I can't sleep. It's that artificial blue lighting beaming in," said Susanne Carnelos.

Carnelos has lived in her condo for seven years. There's only a small laneway separating the two buildings and their windows face each other. So when the offices leave their fluorescent lights on, Carnelos says her unit is lit up.

"It feels like a film set with all those lights and I'm a one woman show."

Over the past few years, Carnelos says she and others have complained many times to the businesses and to the building's owner.

'It's like someone is reading beside you in bed'

"I've put signs in the windows for them. I've gone over to talk to them, I've called them on the telephone. And inevitably it always goes back to the same thing," said Carnelos. 

The building is owned by a firm called Memnon. CBC Toronto contacted the company asking to speak with the owner several times, but hasn't heard back.

According to the city, the owner can face up to $50,000 in fines if he doesn't comply.

Residents living in the condo on the other side of the commercial space say they're also dealing with the same issue, except their units are a lot closer.

 There's only a walkway running between Amelia Eggan's home and the offices.

"It's as though you're trying to sleep in your bedroom and someone has lights on around you and they're reading beside you in bed. There's no real control of personal space," said Eggan.

She and her partner have resorted to wearing masks when they sleep, but she says it doesn't help much.

Toronto a huge offender 

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) tracks light pollution and says cities like Toronto are huge offenders.

• Energy-efficient light bulbs increasing light pollution, new study suggests

• Preserving dark skies from light pollution so we can still wonder at the stars

"For decades light was considered to be a good thing. It's a symbol of prosperity," said Robert Dick, with the RASC's Light Pollution Abatement Committee.

"White light is great during the daytime, it keeps you alert. But at night it fools your biology and there's a lot of critical biology that goes on at night. Your body infers from the content of white light that's shining in your eyes that it's still daylight, and it disables those functions in your body," said Dick.

According to the Toronto municipal code a property that "creates a nuisance to other properties" has to provide some sort of "barrier or deflectors to prevent lighting … from shining directly into a dwelling unit."

Carnelos filed a complaint with the city a few weeks ago.

City inspectors arrived one night and determined the office building was creating a problem for its neighbours.

Joe Magalhaes, a manager with the city's Municipal Licensing and Standards department, says the property's owner will be served with an order Friday and has several weeks to comply. 

Why don't homeowners put in blackout blinds? 

"So many owners ask me why don't the people who are being affected by the light do something about it and put up some blackout blinds," said Magalhaes.

"But ... the onus is always on that party that's creating a nuisance."

Carnelos says she's thrilled by the news.

"It's been affecting how I feel every day," said Carnelos.

"I just can't help but think that we're not the only ones who are dealing with this. Just look how densely populated these neighbourhoods are becoming."