ORD-2003-037 - Outdoor Lighting Standards Zoning Ordinance Amendment

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1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 to be trying to look at And the way this works is like all these first 3, they are called full cut -off fixtures. Basically they do not let the light go above the level of the fixture. And so for light pollution purposes that keeps the light except what is reflecting off the moisture in the air, below the fixture off the pavement and keeps it from ending up in the sky and also saves you a whole lot of light, saves you a lot of energy. And so you have got regular street lights here, go back a couple, and this is what you would want to put out in this parking lot instead of these acorns that basically emit light almost 360 degrees just spray it up in the air. "The 3`d one which shows that even for a regular parking lot you can put a fixture in a box so that if you are back far enough away from it is not in your eyes and all the light is going down. Then you have two options for a sign, either from above or these kind of internally lit signs that work really well. Then there are the bad fixtures, there are a bunch of them at Easttown, then the wail pack, #2, if driving down 40, look behind Harris Teeter Chapel Hill North, the whole highway is lit up by these things. "And then you can get the totally ugly effect, which you can get by driving straight back towards Chapel Hill, just as you come up over the hill. So, in the summation page, light pollution is a problem in most places in this country where they do not have a comprehensive Ordinance and that includes Orange County. "So we have got a good start on the Ordinance. Then given that it is kind of a no- brainer, all you want is light where you want it and not where you don't want it, I think we are moving right along and I really appreciate the work that has already gone into that. For this to actually be a success this is kind of like air pollution, the light knows no boundaries,. so getting the same things happening in other jurisdictions in the towns and at the university would be something I would want to motivate. So to the degree that we could get an ad hoc county -wide working group for a little while working on this and could get some uniformity on these things that would be great. "One thing just occurred to me, it is possible to even light ball fields and things that you would think would just have to create this bill ball of light. With the right shielding and stuff you can make even ball fields and big facilities like that pretty tolerable in the neighborhood. So we can actually bring back the stars in town and that has been done in a lot of bigger cities where astronomers were being put out of business. And I know it takes a while for Ordinances and the fife -cycle of these fixtures to go through, but as far as the state -of- the -art fixtures and light pollution approaches in all county facilities goes, I think that is something that can just be done by the people that are planning the facilities. "And I would really encourage that and the last thing that i want to ask for is that we get a referral on this Ordinance so that we can take a look at it officially for the Commission for the Environment. "And on a completely different topic, I was the recipient of an Orange County Arts Commission grant last year and there is a pile of these CDs over there that were a result of that (five or six) and they are for you all. Thank you very much." Bill Walser. "Hi, I am Bill Walser, a resident of Orange County. i am a life -time member of the international Dark Sky Association which basically made the presentation. I am an amateur astronomer, I have a private observatory just off Dodson's Cross Roads where 1 do deep space imaging. It's a university quality facility and there are a number of other amateur astronomers in the area, who until just recently have enjoyed very dark skies.