Outdoor Lighting in Loudoun County
History and Present Status


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INTRODUCTION

First of all, allow me to introduce myself and give you the reason for posting of this document.

My name is Robert K. MacDowell, and I have lived with my family in Loudoun County since 1975; first in the Aldie area, and since 1996, in Waterford.

Long before moving to Loudoun County, my family had experienced problems with so-called 'security lights' installed by public utilities and causing severe light trespass onto our property.

While in Prince William County, we did manage to secure immediate and full cooperation from the Prince William Electric Cooperative in resolving the one issue that occured there.

Upon moving to Loudoun County, we discovered that Dominion Virginia Power (the name was different then, I think it was VEPCO) had a far different attitude, which as far as I can determine, persists to this day. (9-11-02)

Finding the public utility to be uncooperative, we then asked Loudoun County Zoning to help us resolve this one issue, and have been unable to get any cooperation from the Zoning Administrator, even though we feel the Zoning Ordinance that exists now covers this sort of issue. We have been told, essentially, that the county won't send an inspector out at night, or onto private property. (This could be resolved during normal business hours).

Far from being alone in experiencing problems with light trespass and glare, we began talking with our friends and neighbors, and began to formulate a plan that would lead to the revamping of the present Zoning Ordinance to make it more concise and easily enforceable, and also began to work toward getting the public utilities to change their policies regarding outdoor lighting.

Much to their credit, Northern Virginia electric Cooperative (NOVEC) has recently announced a new policy that should begin to bear fruit this summer; there is a link to this story on our home page.

We also learned of the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), and have joined and been members since around 1996. IDA is a very large non-profit organization (I understand we have over 8000 members world-wide) and it is dedicated to 'Quality Lighting' - preservation of our dark skies, reduction of dangerous glare and light trespass, and conservation of electrical energy. A link to the IDA Web Site is also on our home page.

Through the efforts of numerous individuals, letters to Editors, meetings, contacts within the Loudoun County government, progress has been made toward re-working the Comprehensive Plan and including a modern dark sky ordinance that will produce results and will be fair to everyone.

Let me emphasize that none of what is presented here is completely new, and it should not have been a surprise discovery on the part of a certain Supervisor and some elements of the Press and a local action group that created a media circus recently over supposed Christmas lighting restrictions.

For example, the draft Comprehensive Plan has been widely publicized, even to the extent that much of the text was reproduced in a newspaper article (I think it was Leesburg Today), including reference to the dark sky design. Here is some information copied from the official Loudoun County Web Site:

LOUDOUN COUNTY DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

From the Loudoun County web site, here is language from the section of the Comprehensive Plan that applies to outdoor lighting. (The 'bullets' ahead of the lettered paragraphs are not in the county document - they are courtesy of the way your browser interprets the HTML code behind the page...)

CHAPTER FIVE;
THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE:
ENVIRONMENTAL, NATURAL, AND HERITAGE RESOURCES

B. Lighting and the Night Sky

The beauty of the County’s night sky is threatened by excessive and improper lighting. Artificial lighting is intended to be minimized and light pollution reduced while maintaining the primary purpose of lighting for public safety and visibility. The County will develop appropriate regulations and performance standards to promote quality and energy-efficient lighting that will also preserve the natural beauty of the night skies. Application of sound night-lighting standards will reduce light pollution such as glare, energy waste, light trespass, and the deterioration of the natural nighttime environment.

Lighting and Night Sky Policies

1. The County will adopt a lighting ordinance to achieve the following:

1993 (PRESENT) ZONING ORDINANCE

Within the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance of 1993, amended 10-4-95,
Division E: Performance Standards, Section 5-1500, outdoor lighting is addressed
under Paragraph 5-1504 Light and Glare Standards. The document reads:

5-1504 Light and Glare Standards.

(A) General Requirements. All sources of glare (direct or reflected artificial light) from any source (other than in connection with operating motor vehicles and/or street lighting) must not cause illumination in excess of 0.25 foot candles above background light levels measured at the boundary of any commercial or industrial use abutting any residential use or at the lot line with any residential district, or, in residential or agricultural districts, at the lot line of any adjacent lot. In addition, in the A-3 A-10, A-25, RR, and CR districts, lights shall be shielded so that the direct glare of the bulb is not visible beyond the property line of the parcel. (Emphasis mine)

(B) Method of Measurement. Illumination levels shall be measured with a photoelectric photometer having a spectral response similar to that of the human eye, following the standard spectral luminous efficiency curve adopted by the Internal Commission on Illumination.

1972 ZONING ORDINANCE

From Page 36 of the 1972 Ordinance, we see that there was concern over glare, even at that early date. This text was copied from the Loudoun County Web Site:

The 1972 Zoning Ordinance, Page 36:

535.3 Glare

All sources of glare (direct or reflected artificial light) from any premises (other than in connection with motor vehicles) must not cause illumination in excess of 0.5 foot-candles above background measured at the district boundary of any residential district or at the lot line within any residential district.

535.3.1 Method of measurement and meaning of terms: Glare shall be measured by means of a photometer or foot-candle meter whose calibration is traceable to the National Bureau of Standards.

"Foot-candle" as a unit of illumination is the illumination at all points one foot distant from a uniform point source of one candle power.

(Bottom of Page 36)

PROPOSED LIGHTING ORDINANCES

There has been considerable confusion concerning the proposed ordinances and where they are at the moment. You have seen the status of the official Zoning Ordinance above.

During 1996, I had written a letter to our Supervisor (Loudoun County Board of Supervisors) who was Helen Marcum. At that time, I prepared a one-page document that I titled "PROPOSED LIGHTING STANDARDS FOR LOUDOUN COUNTY", and remember meeting Mrs. Marcum at a local gasoline station to give her the draft. This was in the days of typewriters, before I had a computer.

Having received no response, I finally wrote to the Board of Supervisors about the lack of action concerning getting a plan together to come up with a good ordinance, and I received a letter from Mrs. Marcum that not a particularly encouraging response. I answered all of the points she had raised in a letter of 23 September, 1998, and believe I was beginning to change her point-of-view at the time.

The Proposed Lighting Standards document was posted for a long time on the Web Site run by Dr. Phil Ianna, the director of IDA's Virginia Section, and a number of interested citizens have found that document on the Web and assumed it was the current proposed lighting ordinance that is now under review. For your reference, you may read my original proposed lighting standards by clicking (use your browser's BACK button to return here):

Proposed Lighting Standards, 1998

Then, finally in the year 2000, after some telephone conversations with one of the Loudoun County Planning Commission members, Jane Kirchner, John Nusbaum and I used information provided on IDA's Web Site to assemble a draft lighting ordinance that could serve as a framework upon which we could all work together and create an ordinance that would answer Loudoun County's needs.

The document is quite long and complex, and it was anticipated that sections that could be shortened would be simplified and those that seemed to need clarification would be clarified.

The document has moldered somewhere in the county offices since the year 2000 without any action that I'm aware of, while much creative work could have been done. We should have finished this job years ago.

If you wish to read the "Loudoun County Virginia Lighting Ordinance" Prepared on June 22, 2000, (and I'm assuming it will be there when you click..;->) you can do so by clicking this link: (Remember to use your BACK button to return here)

Proposed Ordinance from June, 2000

Now, we have a situation where finally the Board of Supervisors has acted to have the Loudoun County Planning Department begin work on an ordinance that should result in far more sensible outdoor lighting for Loudoun County, and it should serve as a modern template from which others in others can base their own ordinances.

ORDINANCES IN EFFECT ELSEWHERE

There are numerous ordinances in effect elsewhere. If you wish to study these, I suggest a visit to the IDA or VOLT websites for links.

In my humble opinion, the Hailey, Idaho ordinance is up to date and would make an excellent framework upon which we could create an ordinance for Loudoun County. There is a link to the official City of Hailey Web Site on my home page.

This is the Ordinance I'd like everyone to read, as the City of Hailey has done a great job in presenting a summary of the legal language on an easy-to-read format and has incorporated it into their Web Site quite nicely. The actual legal language is there, too, and can be read in its entirety.

Finally, I hope this page is an accurate and honest summary of what has transpired and that it reflects the current status.

Corrections, comments and suggestions are most welcome. Email link on home page.

Respectfully,
Robert K. MacDowell
Waterford, Virginia
July 26, 2002
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