What on Earth Is a Night Sky Ordinance, and Why Should I Care?

So I'm trotting around Home Depot the other day, noticing how there is still no sign of a CFL lightbulb in any of the fixtures in the lighting department (no matter how many claims Home Depot wants to make about its commitment to "eco-options") and I get to thinking yet again about this ordinance on which the Sustainability Commission is working for the City of Dunwoody as part of the Atlanta Regional Commission Green Community checklist.

It's the outdoor lighting efficiency measure, sometimes called the Night Sky ordinance. This thing would be a text amendment to our zoning code and would require going in front of the Community Council and the Planning Commission before going before the City Council for a first reading and then a vote. My name gets associated with this thing, and I (or someone from the Sustainability Commission) has to show up and support it. That means I have to not only understand it through and through but I have to believe in it.

The whole "night sky" angle sounds so warm and fuzzy. It's easy to say, "Please, in the realm of things that need doing, why on earth should we put time into this one?" But, like anything, once I started researching it in more detail, it's pretty fascinating stuff, with a wide range of implications. The problem is that modern outdoor lighting has led to degradation of the night sky, and this has a variety of environmental, economic and social impacts--in short, it affects the sustainability "trifecta." So, yes, it actually matters.

Many cities in California have adopted these ordinances already, as have a growing number of cities across the country. The International Dark Sky Association says that 30% of outdoor lighting is wasted energy, which is equivalent to 38 million tons of carbon dioxide in the U.S. alone, representing a loss of $10 billion and a direct negative impact on air quality (which is already below federal standards in th Atlanta region).

What's more, the degradation of our night sky by misdirected light leads to:

* Unsafe driving conditions such as glare (particularly dangerous for older people, and I'd put myself in that category as my night driving abilities are definitely changing! And let's not forget that the projections for the next 20 years in Dunwoody include 20% of our citizens being over the age of 65)

* Privacy invasion (particularly when larger homes are built on small lots or when businesses or recreational centers are built near residential neighborhoods--and we know that increased density is coming to targeted areas in our city)

* Human health impacts (disturbance in the production of melatonin, for instance, which has been linked to a higher incidence of breast cancer)

* Wildlife predator/prey, migration and reproduction disturbances (we're all part of the interconnected web of life, in ways we don't fully understand yet)

* Disturbance of plant life cycles (an important consideration when we realize the necessity of trees for sequestering carbon and cleaning our air, and the possibility for establishing food gardens in our community)

* Inability to see the night sky (50% of the U.S. population cannot see the Milky Way--this is sure to have an impact on our children's scientific competitiveness in a changing world if they can't even identify the Big Dipper!)

The good news? This stuff is easy to fix. In short, night sky ordinances require lights to shine where they are intended (which is usually downward), thereby reducing sky glow (light wastefully escaping into the night sky), glare (light shining dangerously out where people drive) and light trespass (light shining into neighbor property where it is not intended). Exceptions are made for all the things that are immediately coming to mind for you--holiday lighting, emergency lighting, security lighting, etc. Some cities require all lighting to be within code within a certain time frame. Others require just new construction and renovations.

My gut feeling? We are on the precipice of strategic growth in our city. By passing a Night Sky ordinance, we ensure that we not only do no more damage to our night sky, our air quality and the desirable characteristics of our community, but that we improve these resources and features over time. Additionally, this is the trending direction for other cities, so it underscores our growing commitment to long-term sustainability leadership in our region. Oh, and I did some research on objections to night sky ordinances and although developers at first had some issues with them, in general they find that the energy savings resulting from these requirements are a bonus.

My problem? I bristle when I see documents that include length, language or limitations that may be more complicated than what is needed. This is where I need some help on this ordinance. Do we need a nine-page text amendment with this level of detail (see Fulton County Night Sky ordinance) or could we craft something more like the Night Sky ordinance from Twentynine Palms, California? However, if we make it too short and simple, is it still actionable? Thoughts?