Three Denair neighborhoods face a decision in the coming weeks — pay a new assessment, or see streetlights shut off.

Those three areas, containing 33.5 acres, 126 parcels, and 13 streetlights, are inadvertently receiving free streetlighting, the county says, when they should have been included in a large Denair lighting assessment district.

The Denair Highway Lighting District, like other such county districts, assesses parcels for their share of the costs to provide and maintain streetlights. While the three areas – the loop of Salluce Drive, Serena Street, Serramonte Street, and Sioux Drive; the loop of Dogwood Drive, Liquid Amber Drive, Juniper Drive, and Lester Road; and on Eastgate Drive east of Lester Road – are served by the district’s lights, and were mistakenly not included in the district.

The error was discovered during a January audit of streetlight utility bills for the district.

Following Board of Supervisors approval on Tuesday, parcel owners in each of the three areas will cast a vote by mail to either support or oppose joining the district. Each area’s votes will be tallied independently.

Should a majority of parcel owners in any area protest the annexation, the annexation will fail and all streetlights within that area will be turned off.

The voting process is expected to take approximately 120 days.

The Stanislaus County Public Works Department did not return Journal calls for comment on the assessment’s cost to landowners.