AUSTIN, Texas — Update: Deron Blaides told KVUE on Wednesday the large light from Tesla is now gone.
Tesla Gigafactory neighbors say the company's large safety lights are still beaming into their homes, impacting their sleep.
KVUE was able to help neighbors get the lights redirected last year, but some say more lights have been put up.
Once the sun goes down, Deron Blaides said his irritation increases, as his room is lit up by stadium-like lights coming from the Tesla Gigafactory.
"You can't even sleep if the blinds are open," Blaides said.
Blades said he used to keep his blinds open, but now he's forced to close them. He said the company put up large stadium-like lights in the parking lot of a new building under construction in January.
"Since the building [is] being built, there's a lot of activities back here right now," said Blades. "There's noise day and night, ongoing."
Blaides lives in the Prado neighborhood. He said at first, the factory was located on the other side of State Highway 130, impacting only one side of his backyard. Tesla has since expanded to an area closer to Blaides' home, and now his backyard is lit up from all angles.
"We moved here on this lot because [there was] nobody behind us," Blaides said. "So we paid extra for this lot. It was just trees and grass."
PHOTOS: Tesla lights shine into neighbors backyard
That was the case for Jenny Royal as well. KVUE shared her story about the light that was going through her window last year, but it was redirected after we reported on the issue.
"That was a huge improvement," Royal said. "They didn't change it to parking lot lights, which I think would make a lot of sense. I still have to cover, you know, all the curtains."
Royal said it feels like a never-ending issue.
"Two months ago, they had another light that was just kind of beaming straight towards our house," she aid.
She said that one was eventually moved.
Both neighbors said they no longer see much wildlife in the area. That was also a concern from people on Reddit after a picture of the illuminated factory was posted from a plane.
"Bright lights can be a significant problem for birds, and they get confused," John Bloomfield, president of Travis Audubon Society, said. "This can lead to mass collisions."
Travis Audubon is a group that protects native habitats. Bloomfield said they met with Tesla leaders early on to get some protections in place because it's near one of the premier birding locations in Texas, Hornsby Bend. He said it's also near the Colorado River.
"Unfortunately, you know, some of those discussions really didn't bear much fruit," Bloomfield said.
Bloomfield said many large factories around the country have community advisory panels, but Tesla doesn't.
"It's a way to keep involved with the community, a way to share concerns and a way to really understand and act on the community's priorities," Bloomfield said. "That's the kind of thing we'd really like to see, in addition to turning the lights out during migration."
KVUE also spoke with DarkSky Texas Board President Cindy Luongo Cassidy, who said the area is not a part of its program.
"We would be willing to work with Tesla to help them do better lighting," Cassidy said.
As for Blaides, he just wants this one light off his home.
"If they could just at least fix the light, I'll be OK," Blaides said.
"It feels like a battle that's just kind of going to keep happening," Royal said.
KVUE reached out to Tesla, but we have not heard back.
State and county leaders said the Tesla Gigafactory is in Travis County, which follows state law. Currently, there are no state laws that regulate this light pollution issue.
The change would have to come from the Texas Legislature. The representative for that area, Lulu Flores, sent the following statement:
"As our community grows we must find ways to ensure the quality of life people expect isn't diminished. Since being made aware of this issue my office has been looking into it and has reached out to Tesla. I'm hopeful we can find a solution that works for the community and environment."