A bright lamp from a far-off parking lot began marring the night sky in a rural corner of the high desert in the Antelope Valley about three years ago.

The glow went all the way to the home of Wayne Argo from about five miles away. Argo had long exulted in how dark it got at his ranch-style home, separated from downtown Los Angeles by 35 miles and the San Gabriel Mountains.

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“I can see millions more stars than people that live in the city,” said Argo, who lives 20 miles southeast of Palmdale. “It’s unbelievable. I can see the Milky Way — the whole Milky Way.”

But now, he said, parking lot lights shining in the distance are “one of the brightest things you see at night.”