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42 <br />In addition to the need for 70 -100 feet of height to adequately light for sports <br />standards, there is an associated safety concern — which is the primary reason <br />for light level standards. Adequate lighting is necessary to ensure the safety of <br />players who may not be able to see their target as well as they should, and to <br />light corners of fields that are already challenging to light without raising the light <br />levels even further all across the fields. A light pole of less than 70 feet will not <br />meet many organization's minimum standards'. <br />Lighting standards at locations like Eurosport Soccer Center and the future <br />Millhouse Road Park requires some poles to be as high as 100 -feet (on the <br />championship field) and 90 -feet. Soccer fields require higher footcandle levels <br />due to the vision - critical play that occurs in the corners of the field. Soccer <br />complexes provide economic development benefits as an attraction for <br />tournaments and other events, and this ability would be lost with a lowered height <br />restriction. <br />Finally, while we understand the intention of lowering pole height, and that this <br />may seem to improve glare and light spillage, it actually may do more harm than <br />good. As shown in the attached diagram, restricting the pole height would <br />effectively increase glare and light spillage. The lower the pole, the farther the <br />lights must shine horizontally to reach their target — increasing the spread of the <br />light. Higher poles allow the light to be targeted downward reducing light spillage. <br />We would suggest that the Planning Board and Planning staff consider applying <br />special standards in the UDO with the provision for higher light poles as <br />described herein for public parks and schools. The proposed 60 -feet height limit <br />will create lighting inadequacies that make new fields unable to be lit for their <br />planned needs, unusable for many sanctioned sports activities, and create safety <br />issues for players on these facilities who may not have adequate visibility to <br />safely conduct their games. This may pose risk management issues for the <br />County were such a change to be implemented. <br />There are additional reports and studies in support of this recommendation. <br />Please let me know if we may provide more information to this purpose. <br />Thank you. <br />Copies: Parks and Recreation Council <br />Commission for the Environment <br />Michael Talbert, Assistant County Manager <br />This also may be an issue for the schools, as North Carolina High School Athletic Association <br />also has lighting safety standards that member schools must adhere to. Depending on the <br />proximity of fields to property lines, future schools may have difficulty meeting these standards. <br />Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation <br />PO Box 8181 <br />Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br />Phone: (919) 245 -2510 <br />Fax: (919) 644 -3351 <br />