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If
your municipality has an outdoor lighting ordinance,
please
Contact Us.
Also check with your city secretary or P & Z department
for existing ordinances to start from. Ask them to
search for these key words: Light
Pollution, Outdoor Lighting, Exterior Lighting, Glare,
Light Trespass, Signs, Parking Lots, Roadways, Sidewalks
Many Texas
municipalities have some sort of outdoor lighting
ordinance or outdoor lighting restrictions in place. The
newest ordinances are being passed in Hill Country towns
that are becoming more concerned about dark skies and
how they foster a better "hill country environment." If
you live in a Hill Country town, be sure to strike up a
conversation with some fellow townsfolk about dark skies
and share with them the knowledge you have found here.
Texas municipalities with specific
Outdoor Lighting or Light Pollution Ordinances:
Flower Mound (7/97)
Plano (4/00)
Alpine (5/00)
Dripping Springs
(1/7/2000) (PDF file download)
Glen Rose (5/01)
Harker Heights (spring/summer 2002)
Frisco (Nov.
2000)
Jeff Davis County (McDonald Observatory) (2002?)
Fort Bend County (George Observatory) 3/23/04
El Paso (2005)
Midland (outdoor lighting policy)(2005)
Village of Wimberly (2001)
Helotes (July
7, 2006)
(Microsoft Word
Document)
Austin
(January 2007) To read the
code, scroll down to pages 4 and 58-60 of the
PDF document
El
Paso:
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/sitemap.asp Then
click on MUNICIPAL CODE and go to Chapter 18:18 Outdoor
lighting Code.El Paso sunset clause: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/sitemap.asp , then click on El
Paso On-line Services/El Paso Municipal Code/Chapter
18:18 Outdoor Lighting Code/ Section 18.18.310 Non
conformance/ paragraph D is the 'Sunset Clause', saying
that "All existing outdoor lighting fixtures shall be
brought into compliance with the shielding standards of
Section 18.18.070 not later than May 7, 2015." The
ordinance was effective on May 7, 2005.
Under
Development:Fairview (6/03)
Cedar Hill (2/05)
Blanco (4/08)
Brazoria County (George
Observatory) (1/05) See:
http://people.consolidated.net/tovinder/light_ord.htm
With the light pollution controls now adopted in
Helotes, Bulverde, Wimberly, Dripping Springs, and
Boerne there is a wall forming north of San Antonio in
the Hill Country and hopefully it will continue to get
spread.
The new Boerne lighting requirements are located in the
Zoning Ordinance as it is not a stand alone ordinance.
They are on the City of Boerne web site at
http://68.89.132.119/portals/4/docsadmin/zoning_revised122006.pdf
; scroll to Article III Section 2 beginning on page 21
of the code.
Bulverde can also be added to the list of light
pollution ordinances! The Boerne zoning department head
reported that the person responsible for getting an
ordinance for Bulverde was a fellow named Chance Sparks.
I believe he worked for the City of Bulverde and has
since has moved on to San Marcos.
The City Manager is designated to enforce the Boerne
zoning ordinance in general, including outdoor lighting;
however, reference is made only to Texas Government Code
http://law.onecle.com/texas/local-government/211.012.00.html.
Section (b) of this Code is non-specific, and apparently
must be backed up by local enforcement criteria.
211.012.00 (b) A person commits an offense if the person
violates this subchapter or an ordinance or regulation
adopted under this subchapter. An offense under this
subsection is a misdemeanor, punishable by fine,
imprisonment, or both, as provided by the governing
body. The governing body may also provide civil
penalties for a violation.
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Five
excellent ordinances to use for now as guidelines
include:
1. Hailey, Idaho (http://www.haileycityhall.org);
2. Ketchum, Idaho (http://www.scn.org/darksky/code/id/ketcdrlo)
3. Eagle, Colorado (go to LiteLynx list on
Links
page and click on Local Laws/Colorado/Eagle/pp.4-13
'Lighting Standards'';
4. Mammoth Lakes,California (http://www.ci.mammoth-lakes.ca.us;
Click on Reports, go to Community Development Dept.)
5. Fort Bend
County: See Useful Links page.
Model Lighting Ordinance (MLO)--
for Outdoor Lighting
3/03: The MLO is being developed by a working group of
the I.D.A. in cooperation with the Illuminating
Engineers Society of North America (IES-NA), and
representatives of other professional groups and the
lighting industry.
The first draft
version 2004.1 was made available for comment on the
I.D.A. website in fall 2004. See
Announcements
for updates.
Meanwhile, study the latest version of the
Outdoor Lighting Code Handbook Individual sections
can be printed.
Two new IESNA standards are incorporated into this
version of a "pattern" code:
(1) The five environmental zones of lighting levels
called E-zones.
(2) Instead of designating foot-candles or other light
meter measurements, a standard based on lumens per acre
is used, which can be translated into watts per unit of
measurement (feet or meter).
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For information:
"Never doubt that a small
group of dedicated citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever does."
Margaret Mead |
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May 2008
