Questionnaire for

Initiating a Municipal Outdoor Lighting Ordinance

The questions below are designed to assist with the customization of the wording and general direction of the ordinance.

1. Can you cite examples of abusive lighting in this community or elsewhere that you would like to prevent in the future?

2. What type areas do you wish to address in the ordinance? Circle all that apply:

1. Public Streets and Roads
2. Residential off-street areas
3. Residential property line joining commercial areas
4. Commercial parking areas that are contiguous to public streets and roads
5. Canopies (e.g., gas station/ convenience store, etc.)
6. Sportsfields
7. Historic/Architectural areas (perhaps allow as exceptions to the ordinance)
8. Rural areas
9. Building facades
10. Illuminated/LED signs and billboards
11. Private streets within subdivisions
12. Outdoor sales areas, e.g., car lots
13. Walkways, bikeways, trails and park areas
14. Other __________________________________________________________________
15. Other __________________________________________________________________

3. Do you wish to use (circle one):

A. Prescriptive controls (e.g., fixture types, mounting heights, glare control shields, etc.)

B. Performance controls (footcandle limits such as average, maximum, and minimum and uniformity ratios that describe the evenness of lighted areas of a road or parking lot)

C. Combination of A and B above

4. Regarding light trespass (spilling light onto a neighbor’s property) and light pollution (projecting excessive light into the night sky), how would you describe your goals toward limiting/controlling through an ordinance? Circle one:

1. Very aggressive
2. Moderately Aggressive
3. Somewhat lenient
4. Lenient

4. Regarding holiday/festive and other temporary lighting (circle one):

1. Exempt this type of lighting in the ordinance
2. Provide controls for this type of lighting in the ordinance

5. Lighting curfews require the reduction in light level and/or that the lights be cut off after a certain time of night. (circle one)

1. Use lighting curfews
2. Use lighting curfews only for areas that have high light levels (i.e. sportsfields, car lots, etc.)
3. Do not include curfews in the ordinance

6. As it relates to maximum pole height for lighting fixtures in parking lots, which would you prefer? (circle one)

1. 16’
2. 20’
3. 25’
4. No particular preference

7. How to handle existing lighting in the municipality. (circle one)

1. Grant “grandfather” status – no changes are required for any existing lighting
2. Grant “grandfather” status for all existing lighting except those specified by the municipality as type or areas that shall be retrofitted over a specified period of time to come into compliance
3. Set a specific duration within which all non-conforming lighting must be brought into compliance.

8. Do you have other lighting concerns that were not adequately covered above? (please list)