SECTION 11: LIGHTING

A. Intent and Purpose

To provide clear regulations for lighting consistent with industry standards and practices, available technologies, and lighting sciences in an effort to minimize glare, light trespass, and misdirection of lights and to protect nighttime public safety, security, privacy, productivity, and movement of vehicles and persons. (orig. 7-23-02)

B. General Provisions

1. Regulation

a. Nothing in this Section is intended to preclude compliance with the specific zone district regulations, other regulations within this Zoning Resolution or with County, State and Federal regulations as they may exist. Where Federal, State or County requirements conflict with the provisions of this Section, the more restrictive standard shall apply. (orig. 7-23-02)

b. Nothing in this Section is intended to prevent the use of any design, material or method of installation not specifically proscribed by this Section provided any such alternate has been approved by the County. An alternate may be approved if the proposed design, material or method provides approximate equivalence (or is superior) to the specific requirements of this Section and complies with the intent of this Section. (orig. 7-23-02)

  2. Procedures

All luminaires newly designed, constructed, erected, or otherwise placed into operation on or after September 1, 2002, and any alterations, rehabilitation, relocation or renovation to more than 75 percent of existing luminaires commenced after September 1, 2002 shall be required to receive Site Development Plan approval. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

3. Applicability

a. All luminaires newly designed, constructed, erected, or otherwise placed into operation on or after September 1, 2002, and any alterations, rehabilitation, relocation or renovation to more than 75 percent of existing luminaires commenced after September 1, 2002 shall be in conformance with the requirements of this Section. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

b. Luminaires pre-existing and legally installed and operative before September 1, 2002, are exempt from the requirements of this Section for the life of the luminaires. (orig. 7-23-02; am.12-17-02)

C. Prohibitions

The installation, illumination or maintenance of any of the following shall be prohibited in all zone districts unless they have been approved by a permit issued pursuant to Section 9: Special Events of this Zoning Resolution. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

1. Strobe lights. (orig. 7-23-02)

2. Search lights. (orig. 7-23-02)

3. Lasers and other high intensity beams. (orig. 7-23-02)

4. Blinking, flashing, flickering, rotating, pulsing or changing intensity lights. (orig. 7-23-02) Section 11 Page 2 Zoning Resolution – Amended 12-17-02

5. Any incident or reflected light that may be confused with or construed as a traffic control device, except as authorized by the State, Federal, or County government. (orig. 7-23-02)

D. Exemptions

The following shall be exempt from the requirements of this Section: (orig. 7-23-02)

1. Holiday lights in the nature of decorations, clearly incidental and customary and commonly associated with any national, local or religious holiday provided that such lights shall be illuminated for a period of not more than 60 consecutive days nor more than 60 days in any one year. Holiday lights may be of any type, number, area, height, location, illumination or animation, except that they shall not produce incident or reflected light that may be confused with or construed as a traffic control device. (orig. 7-23-02)

2. Any lighting required by the FAA for air traffic control, navigation, and warning purposes. (orig. 7-23-02)

3. Emergency lighting as required by law enforcement or emergency services personnel to protect life or property provided such lighting is temporary and is discontinued immediately upon abatement of the emergency necessitating said lighting. (orig. 7-23-02)

4. Street or road lighting. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

5. Construction lighting provided such lighting is temporary and is discontinued immediately upon completion of the construction work. (orig. 7-23-02)

6. Traffic control signals and devices. (orig. 7-23-02)

7. Vehicular lights. (orig. 7-23-02)

E. Standards  

1. The following lamps shall be fully shielded, unless otherwise specified in this Section: (orig. 7-23-02)

LAMPS/AREA
Residential Uses/All Other Uses
Mountains/All lamps over 3,000 lumens (approximately equivalent to a 150-watt incandescent bulb).
All lamps - Plains - All lamps over 4,000 lumens (approximately equivalent to a 200-watt incandescent bulb).

Shielding shall not be required for lamps which accent entranceways, building facades, art, sculpture, flags, statuary and other similar objects provided this light is narrowly focused on the object of interest. This exception does not include pathway lighting, bollards, or other pedestrian or trail circulation illumination. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

2. Luminaires and their supporting structure shall be wholly confined to the property. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

3. Appropriate pole heights in residential mountain and rural areas are 12 feet. However, in no case shall a pole-mounted luminaire be greater than 20 feet in height. Luminaires for public sports and cultural facilities (including but not limited to public tennis courts, skating rinks, golf courses/driving ranges, trails, parks, swimming pools, baseball/softball/ soccer/football fields, auto/motocross/horse race tracks, etc.) shall be exempt from this height provision. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

4. Maximum illumination levels resulting from on-site lighting shall not exceed the following asmeasured on the property line (where dissimilar uses share a common property line, the morerestrictive level shall apply): (orig. 7-23-02)

MAXIMUM ILLUMINATION LEVEL (foot-candles) USE

Mountains Plains
Commercial, Industrial, Institutional 0.3 0.6
Residential, Active Recreational 0.2 0.3
Passive Recreational 0.1 0.1

5. All illuminated signage or illuminated outdoor advertising devices shall comply with the requirements of this Section in addition to the requirements of Section 10: Signs and Outdoor Advertising Devices of this Zoning Resolution. (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

6. All lighting installations proposed for special events shall comply with the requirements of this Section, and any additional provisions established pursuant to the requirements of Section 9: Special Events of this Zoning Resolution and the conditions of the Special Event Permit (if issued). (orig. 7-23-02; am. 12-17-02)

7. All outdoor lighting shall be installed with an on/off switch. (orig. 7-23-02)

F. Measurements

1. Illumination shall be measured in foot-candles. All on-site illumination readings shall be measured with a meter sensor in a horizontal position at ground level. (orig. 7-23-02)

2. All foot-candles in this Section are initial horizontal levels. (orig. 7-23-02)

3. All foot-candle measurements shall include the sum of all on-site lighting installations, including all illuminated signs, illuminated outdoor advertising devices, building-mounted lights, and any light spillage from inside buildings. (orig. 7-23-02)

4. Pole-mounted luminaire heights shall be measured from finished grade to the top of the luminaire. Where a pole is located on a berm, the berm height shall be included in the height of the luminaire. (orig. 7-23-02)

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