On December 7th, 2021, the Board of Supervisors adopted a new Light Trespass Ordinance. The latest revisions update definitions and outdoor lighting regulations by region, focusing on prevention of light trespass onto neighboring properties and protection of dark night skies in the Mountain and Desert Regions. An overview of the new ordinance follows below.
Valley Region:
The standard is a maximum of 0.5-foot candle measured at the property line of any adjacent residential property.
Mountain and Desert Region:
A stricter standard of 0.1-foot candle for light trespass has been established in the mountain and desert regions. Additional requirements to protect dark night skies in mountain and desert areas include a Dark Sky Curfew, and new standards for the use or residential string lights.
Compliance Timeline:
Any modifications or replacement of outdoor fixtures required to comply with the ordinance will have a grace period of 18 months for commercial and industrial properties and 24 months for all other land uses.
Dark Sky Curfew:
unless the outdoor
light is used to illuminate the entry or exits or the structure , parking areas
or driveways, or on a motion sensor that shuts off after five minutes of
activation- all outdoor lights must be extinguished as soon as there are no
longer people present in exterior areas.
Shielding
Requirement:
All outdoor fixtures
need to be fully shielded, installed and maintained in such a manner that the
shielding does not permit light trespass in excess of one- tenths foot-candles.
Automated controls:
Automated control
systems- like motion sensors and timers shall be used to meet curfew
requirements
Lighting Color:
The correlated color
temperature of all outdoor lighting shall be 3,000 Kelvin or less except for
seasonal lighting.
Blinking, Flashing,
or High Intently light- not allowed
Residential String
Lights:
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary,
string lights may be allowed in outside dining areas, entertainment areas or
used as landscape lighting in connection with a residential dwelling or use
provided that all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The correlated
color temperature of the light sources does not exceed 3,000 Kelvin; and
(2) The emission of
no individual lamp in the string exceeds forty initial lumens, and the
aggregate total of lumen output of such string lights used as outdoor light
fixtures does not exceed 4,000 lumens
For more information please review the resources on the right.
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