Agenda - Planning Commission - 11/09/1995

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vapor, and neon lights are prohibited, as are flashing lights, searchlights, and cobra head fixtures. Metal halide fixtures in parking lots, pedestrian paths, and building perimeter areas must be fitted with full cutoff. In those areas, lamps.with decorative fixtures may not exceed the equivalent of 150 watts (incandescent). Juneau, Alaska, relates the height of light fixtures to "the lamp size, the type ofluminaire which is being used, and the purpose of the lighting." Heights range from below eye level through I0 to I5 feet in malls and walkways to 60 feet and i00 feet for large-a~'ea lighting such as parking lots and highway interchanges. Shielding is required on all outdoor lighting under 35 feet to reduce hazards from glare. Lighting intensity guidelines are: 1.5 footcandles in parking lots; three in intersections; 0.2 in residential developments; and one along the perimeter of property lines. Other Developments No national standards for outdoor lighting exist in the U.S., but states are getting involved. A Maine law bars use of state funds to replace any permanent outdoor lighting fixture unless state- mandated guidelines for the design of the fixture are followed. The guidelines say that any new or replacement fixture must be equipped with a full cutoff shade. Connecticut has passed legislation controlling glare, and Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Texas are considering doing so. In Vermont, the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission has hired Michael Munson, of the Research Evaluation Specialists of Vermont, to prepare a manual, "A Site Lighting Guide for Vermont Municipalities." The commission created an Urban Consortium Energy Task Force with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and other sources. The task force aims to educate communities on general principles of good lighting and to help in crafting workable ordinances. Three communities (urban, suburban, and rural) will be selected for case studies as part of this process. APA's Northern New England chapter and the Vermont Planners Association are cooperating in this venture. Much of the impetus behind the banning of liPS lighting in the Southwest has come from the Internatlonal Dark Sky Association, formed 13 years ago by David Crawford, an astronomer at the Kitt Peak Observatory. San Diego, which modeled its ordinance on Tucson's, has since bowed to pressure from law enforcement officials and the public and reinstalled HPS lighting in some areas. Crawford and his colleagues view this as evidence that they need to intensify their public education efforts. The organization has helped communities nationwide prepare light control ordinances and also has focused attention on the problem of light tresp~s in urban areas. Z~ning Newt is a monthly newsletter published by the American Planning Association. Subscriptions are available for $45 {U.S.) and $54 (foreign). Michael B. Barker, Executive Director; Frank S. So, Deputy Executive Director; William R. Klein, Director of Research. Zoning Newj is produced at APA. Jim Schwab, Editor; Fay Dolnlck, Scott Dvorak, Michclle Gregory, San jay Jeer, Megan Lewis, Marya Morris, Marry Roupe, Laura Thompson, Reporters; Cynthia Che~ki, Assistant Editor; Lisa Barton, Design and Production, Copyright ©1995 by American Planning Association, 122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1600, Chicago, IL 60603. Thc American Planning Association has headquarters offices at 1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved. No part ofrhis publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the American Planning Association. Printed on recycled paper, including 50-70% recycled fiber and 10% postconsumer waste, ~ The New England Light Pollution Advisory Group (NELPAG) is based at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and directed by Daniel Green, who argues that reducing wattage and fully shielding lamps are more important than the choice of lighting type. NELPAG has also produced an information package for writing city and town ordinances and lobbies for state lighting reform legislation. Planners may find it rewarding to develop a clear sense of purpose about public lighting and to become more involved in its design and regulation in their communities. Community lighting often grows to inappropriate and unnecessary levels, producing energy waste, rising fiscal costs, and glare. It is advisable to consider sources beyond the local utility company, for other excellent resources exist. Communities are most successful when they receive input from a cross-section of the community, including planners, public works officials, utility company representatives, interested citizens, and lighting design professionals, all engaging in constructive dialogue. Adult Entertainment Study Bookstore, Department of Ci{y Planning, City of New' York, 22 Reade St., New York, NY iOOOZ Novtmber 1)94, 98pp. $5 plus $1 postage. 41 cents sales tax unless ordered with tax-exemption form. As reported in Zoning News last month, New York City is in the midst of revamping its adutt use zoning regulations cirywide. This s~udy was part of the planning effort that prepared those regulations and contains a good deal of interesting data on patterns of adult use concentrations throughout the city. It is also valuable to planners and zoning 'administrators elsewhere for its review of major adult use studies in other cities across the country, as well as for its history of legal developments in this field and of the evolution of adult uses in relation to advances in cinematography. The study notes, for example, that $100 films have now become $5 videotapes, alrering the marketing ofadutt movies. Fortress America: Gated and Walled Communities in the United States EdwardJ. Blakely and Mary Gall Snyder. Lincoln Institute of Land PoBcy, 113 Brattte St., Cambridge, MA 02138. 1995. 33 pp. $IO plus $3.50 shipping and handling (50 cents shipping for each additional copy). Acknowledging a dearth of scholarly analysis to date on the subject of gated communities, this working paper attempts an investigative study drawing heavily on. journalistic sources and interviews with focus groups. Illustrating a trend toward withdrawal from the larger society, the authors raise serious questions about the segregative impacts of walled communities and even the viability, of democratic government where citizens have erected such walls. Going well beyond planning and zoning questions about the phenomenon it studies, this paper attacks the very philosophy that undergirds the growing trend toward enclosure.