Title 15 LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE

Chapter 15.05 DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS

15.05.140 Outdoor lighting.

A. Purpose. Outdoor or exterior lighting should ensure that the functional and security needs of a development are met in ways that do not adversely affect the adjacent properties or neighborhood. The degree to which outdoor night lighting affects a property owner or neighborhood shall be examined considering the light source, level of illumination, hours of illumination, and need for illumination in relation to the effects of the lighting on adjacent property owners and the neighborhood.

B. Applicability and Exemptions.

1. New Development--Plans Required. All new development, except developments that contain only one-family or two-family dwelling uses, shall submit a proposed outdoor lighting plan as part of the applicable development application (site plan, final plat, etc). The outdoor lighting plan shall meet the functional security needs of the proposed land use without adversely affecting adjacent properties or the community.

a.       Residential development otherwise exempt from the lighting plan submittal requirements of this section shall still comply with the design and light intensity standards stated in this section, as applicable.

2. Existing Development. This section’s lighting standards are applicable to outdoor lighting in existing developments, and existing developments that do not comply with this section’s outdoor lighting standards are not considered non-conforming uses or structures under Chapter 15.08. Existing development shall have three years from the effective date of this Development Code to comply with the lighting level standards in Section 15.05.140(E), “Lighting Levels,” below. All other outdoor lighting standards in this section shall be applicable to existing development on the effective date of this Development Code.

3. Modification of Lighting to Ensure Compliance. All outdoor lighting is subject to modification after installation if the city finds that the lighting, as installed, does not comply with these standards.

4. Public Street Lighting. Unless otherwise expressly exempted, public street lighting installed by the city of Longmont shall comply with the standards stated in this section.

5. Exemption for Outdoor Active Recreational Uses. Because of their unique requirements for nighttime visibility and their limited hours of operation, ball diamonds, playing fields, tennis courts, and other similar outdoor active recreational uses (both public and private facilities unless otherwise restricted by the decision-making body) are exempt from the outdoor lighting standards stated in this section and shall only be required to meet the following standards:

a. Limits on Cutoff Angle: Cutoff from a lighting source that illuminates an outdoor active recreational use may exceed an angle of ninety degrees from the pole, provided that the light source is shielded to prevent light and glare spillover to adjacent residential properties.

b. Maximum Permitted Illumination at the Property Line: two footcandles.

c. Limits on Hours of Illumination: Exterior lighting for an outdoor active recreational use shall be extinguished no later than eleven-thirty p.m.

C. Creation of Traffic Hazard Prohibited--Colored Lights Restricted. Neither the direct nor reflected light from any outdoor light source shall create a traffic hazard to operators of motor vehicles on public streets or to operators of aircraft, and no colored lights may be used in such a way as to be confused or construed as street-traffic- or air-traffic control devices.

D. Changing Intensity or Color Prohibited--Temporary Holiday Displays Excepted. No blinking, flashing or fluttering lights, or other illuminated device that has a changing light intensity, brightness or color, is permitted in any zoning district, except for temporary holiday displays.

E. Lighting Levels.

1. With the exception of lighting for public streets, all other project lighting used to illuminate buildings, parking lots, pedestrian walkways, bikeways, or the landscape, shall be evaluated during the site plan review process. The following Table 15.05-J gives maximum lighting levels for outdoor facilities used at night averaged over the entire activity area.

Sources: Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), Lighting Handbook
(1987 and 9th (2000) editions) and Lighting for Exterior Environments (RP-33-99).

2. All other illuminance shall not exceed IESNA recommendations as published in the Lighting Handbook (9th ed, c. 2000), Lighting for Exterior Environments (RP-33-99), Recommended Practice for Lighting Merchandising Areas (RF-2), or other applicable IES publications, as these publications are amended; and

3. The amount of nuisance glare (light trespass) projected onto a residential use from another property shall not exceed 0.1 footcandles at the property line.

F. General Design Standards. All exterior lighting, including public street lighting as applicable, shall meet the following design standards:

1. Background spaces like parking lots shall be illuminated as unobtrusively as possible to meet the functional needs of safe circulation and protection of people and property. Foreground spaces, such as building entrances and outside seating areas, shall utilize local lighting that defines the space without glare.

2. Light sources shall be concealed or shielded to the maximum extent feasible to minimize the potential for glare and unnecessary diffusion on adjacent property and rights-of-way. At a minimum, on-site parking areas, pedestrian walkways and sidewalks, and on-site streets and driveways shall use full cut-off type lighting that provides consistent illumination of at least one footcandle.

3. The style of light standards and fixtures shall be consistent with the style and character of architecture proposed on the site.

4. All outdoor light not necessary for security purposes shall be reduced, activated by motion sensors devices, or turned off during non-operating hours.

5. Light fixtures used to illuminate flags, statues, or any other objects mounted on a pole, pedestal, or platform shall use a narrow cone beam or light that shall not extend beyond the illuminated object.

6. For upward-directed architectural, landscape, and decorative lighting, direct light emissions shall not be visible above the building roofline.

7. Light fixtures shall be located on the periphery of the areas with light sources directed into parking areas. No light sources shall be located on building facades directed outward toward property boundaries or adjacent rights-of-way.

8. Lighting sources shall be color-correct types such as halogen or metal halide, and light types of limited spectral emission, such as low pressure sodium or mercury vapor lights, are prohibited even in service areas.

G. Height Standards for Lighting.

1. Residential Zoning Districts. Light fixtures shall be mounted on concrete, fiberglass, or painted metal poles no higher than sixteen feet from the ground. Bollard-type lighting fixtures shall be between three and four feet high.

2. Non-Residential and Public Zoning Districts.

a. Light fixtures shall be mounted on concrete, fiberglass, or painted metal poles no higher than twenty-five feet from the ground, unless a greater height not to exceed the maximum structure height in the applicable zoning district is approved by the planning director based upon a finding that such lighting shall not adversely affect surrounding properties.

b. Lighting height greater than the maximum zoning district height may be approved only through a height exception -- see Section 15.02.060(J), “(Major) Height Exceptions,” and Section 15.02.090(I), “Minor Height Exceptions.”

c. Lighting mounted on a building or structure shall not exceed the height of the building or structure.

d. Bollard-type lighting fixtures shall be between three and four feet high. (Ord. 0-2001-78 § 1 (part))

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