Dark Skies In Oregon03-05-13 | News

Dark Skies In Oregon

Dark Skies ordinances are an attempt to limit "light pollution" by restricting outdoor lighting, and such rules are spreading across the US. The ordinances usually don't mandate the elimination of outdoor lighting, but rather tend to restrict where light can fall. This is a growing trend that landscape lighting professionals should follow.

Registered voters in Bandon, Oregon are being asked to vote on a measure that would create a dark skies ordinance for the city. The stated purpose of this ordinance is to protect and promote public health, safety and welfare, the quality of life, the ability to view the night sky and to protect the natural environment from the damaging effects of night lighting, by establishing regulations and a process of review for exterior lighting.

It features a rule about full cut-off requirements, defined as fixtures that are designed or shielded in such a manner that all light rays emitted by the fixtures, either directly from the lamps or indirectly from the fixture, are projected below a horizontal plane running through the lowest point on the fixture where light is emitted.

Landscape lighting is exempt from the full cut-off requirement provided that the lighting is powered at less than 15 volts and limited to luminaries having a rated initial lumen output of 525 lumens or less with no bulb higher than 24 inches above the ground. This applies to both residential and commercial properties.

"Any of the new lights we've put up for the last five or six years have been dark sky compliant," said Matt Winkle, Bandon's city manager. "The idea is that you are not lighting the sky, you are lighting the ground."

"Those who support this have made the case that they want to go out and be able to see the stars in the sky all around Bandon, and that some exterior lights on someone else's property or lights put up by the city are shining to brightly on to their property," he said.

Winkle said the ordinance would require many exterior lights to be full cut off fixtures, and many exterior bulbs would be limited to 40 watts.

Current homeowners would not have to make any adjustments to exterior lights because they would be grandfathered in, Winkle said. Only when the time comes to replace them will the new lights have to be dark sky compliant.

The proposal has critics. "This ordinance is a violation of my property rights," said Rob Taylor, chief petitioner for the referendum. "If people think they have a right to darkness, then I have a right to light. There is nothing wrong with wanting to see the stars, but when that impacts my property rights and my safety, then I have the right to speak out."

Taylor said exterior lights are not just decorative items that can be toned down without consequences. He said people install the lights on their homes, and cities install lights on dark streets to deter crime. Toning down those lights could create darker places for people to feel more comfortable attempting a crime, he said.

For more information, visit https://www.ci.bandon.or.us.

To learn more about the dark skies movement and recent news, visit: https://www.darksky.org/resources/recent-activities