Village of Old Brookville

VILLAGE OF OLD BROOKVILLE LOCAL LAW 3-2014 “EXTERIOR LIGHTING”

A local law entitled “Exterior Lighting,” of the Incorporated Village of Old Brookville to adopt lighting regulations for properties within the Village.

BE IT ENACTED by the Village Board of the Village of Old Brookville as follows:

SECTION 1. Legislative Findings, Purpose

A. Good outdoor lighting at night benefits everyone. It increases safety, enhances the Village's night time character, and helps provide security. New lighting technologies have produced lights that are extremely powerful, and these types of lights may be improperly installed so that they create problems of excessive glare, light trespass, and higher energy use. Excessive glare can be annoying and may cause safety problems. Light trespass reduces everyone's privacy, and higher energy use results in increased costs for everyone. There is a need for a lighting ordinance that recognizes the benefits of outdoor lighting and provides clear guidelines for its installation so as to help maintain and compliment the Village's character. Appropriately regulated, and properly installed, outdoor lighting will contribute to the safety and welfare of the residents of the Village.

B. This ordinance is intended to reduce the problems created by improperly designed and installed outdoor lighting. It is intended to eliminate problems of glare, minimize light trespass, and help reduce the energy and financial costs of outdoor lighting by establishing regulations which limit the area that certain kinds of outdoor-lighting fixtures can illuminate and by limiting the total allowable illumination of lots located in the Village of Old Brookville. All business, residential, and community driveway, sidewalk, and property luminaires should be installed with the idea of being a "good neighbor", with attempts to keep unnecessary direct light from shining onto abutting properties or streets.

SECTION 2. Definitions

For the purposes of this local law, terms used shall be defined as follows:

Direct Light: Light emitted directly from the lamp, off of the reflector or reflector diffuser, or through the refractor or diffuser lens of a luminaire.

Fixture: The assembly that houses the lamp or lamps and can include all or some of the following parts: a housing, a mounting bracket or pole socket, a lamp holder, a ballast, a reflector or mirror, and/or a refractor or lens.

Flood or Spot light: Any light fixture or lamp that incorporates a reflector or a refractor to concentrate the light output into a directed beam in a particular direction.

Fully-shielded Luminaire: outdoor light fixtures shielded or constructed so that all light rays are emitted below 60⁰ (sixty degrees) from the horizontal plane as certified by a photometric test report.

Glare: Unwanted light emitting from a luminaire with an intensity great enough to reduce a viewer's ability to see, and in extreme cases causing momentary blindness.

Height of Luminaire: The height of a luminaire shall be the vertical distance from the lowest point of the ground directly below and within 10’ of the centerline of the luminaire to the highest direct-light-emitting part of the luminaire.

Indirect Light: Direct light that has been reflected or has scattered off of other surfaces.

Lamp: The component of a luminaire that produces the actual light.

Light Trespass: The shining of light produced by a luminaire above a specified limit and/or beyond the boundaries of the property on which it is located.

Lumen: A unit of luminous flux, or light energy output. One foot-candle is one lumen per square foot. For the purposes of this Ordinance, the lumen-output values shall be the INITIAL lumen output ratings of a lamp.

Luminaire: This is a complete lighting system, and includes a lamp or lamps and a fixture.

Outdoor Lighting: The night-time illumination of an outside area or object by any man-made device located outdoors that produces light by any means.

Temporary outdoor lighting: The specific illumination of an outside area of object by any man- made device located outdoors that produces light by any means for a period of less than 7 days, with at least 180 days passing before being used again.

SECTION 3. Restrictions on Installation and Operation.

A. No person, firm or corporation, their agents, servants or employees, shall install, operate, use or maintain on any residential property in the Village any exterior lighting which is not in compliance with this local law.

SECTION 4. Standard of Operation

A. All exterior lighting shall be installed, arranged, placed, oriented, used and operated with the required lumen output, reflector, and screening to ensure that:

1. The light emitted will not be directed at or towards an adjoining property or residence on an adjoining property. Any luminaire with a lamp or lamps rated at a total of 1200 or more lumens shall be a Fully Shielded Luminaire.

2. Any luminaire with a lamp or lamps rated more than 1200 lumens shall be a Fully Shielded Luminaire and may not be aimed, directed, or focused such as to cause light from the luminaire to be directed toward residential buildings on adjacent or nearby land or foliage, or to create glare perceptible to persons operating motor vehicles on public ways. Examples of Fully Shielded Luminaires are shown for illustration purposes only in Section 12.

3. Any light source will be oriented, hooded and shielded to the degree necessary and equipped with the minimum wattage so that the glare from the light source will not cause Light Trespass as defined in this Chapter. For the purposes of this local law, Light Trespass shall be limited to 0.05 foot-candles at any point on another property measured in both the horizontal and vertical planes.

4. Any luminaire with a lamp or lamps shall be mounted at a height lesson higher than 3' + (D/3)', where D is the distance in feet to the nearest property boundary. The maximum height of any luminaire may not exceed 15 feet.

5. Lighting controlled by motion detectors shall turn off within ten (10) minutes after activation.

6. No single item or cluster of exterior lighting exceeding 3000 lumens shall be located within 20 feet of another item or cluster of exterior lighting.

7. No single item or cluster of exterior lighting shall exceed 3000 lumens output

8. The total exterior lighting installation for a property, other than underwater swimming pool lighting shall be limited to 10,000 lumens plus, pro rata, 10,000 lumens/acre up to 3 acres, plus 5,000 lumens/acre above 3 acres. No more than 25% of the allowable exterior lighting limits may be in the form of allowable non-hooded luminaires.

9. No flashing, laser or neon lights shall be permitted. Holiday lighting, comprised of string lighting and other low level illuminated articles, shall be permitted only during the traditional Fall/Winter holiday period.

10. Lighting within a public right-of-way or easement for the principal purpose of illuminating roads and highways shall be exempt from the restrictions of this local law.

11. Exterior lighting used to illuminate a tennis court or other recreational court is prohibited.

SECTION 5. Illumination of Residential Driveways, walkways, or paths

A. Exterior lighting used to illuminate a residential driveway, walkway or path shall only be permitted when absolutely necessary to provide safe to, from or within a property. Each luminaire for this purpose shall be mounted only along the margins of the driveway, path or walkway, mounted no higher than 18 inches from the grade at its base, located no farther than 24 inches from each margin and spaced at intervals of no less than 20 feet. The total lamp rating for each such luminaire shall be limited to 500 lumens. B. No more than two decorative luminaires mounted on columns, stanchions, or other structures at the street entrance of driveways or walkways are permitted, provided each luminaire shall be rated 900 lumens or less and conforming to all aspects of this local law with the exception of paragraph A(3) of Section 4.

SECTION 6. Temporary Outdoor Lighting.

A. Any temporary outdoor lighting that conforms to the requirements of this local law shall be allowed. Nonconforming temporary outdoor lighting may be permitted by the Board of Trustees after considering: (1) the public and/or private benefits that will result from the temporary lighting; (2) any annoyance or safety problems that may result from the use of the temporary lighting; and (3) the duration of the temporary nonconforming lighting. The applicant shall submit a detailed description of the proposed temporary nonconforming lighting to the Board of Trustees, who shall consider the request at a duly called meeting of the Board of Trustees. The Board shall render its decision on the temporary lighting request within 31 days of the date of the meeting. A failure by the Board to act on a request within the time allowed shall constitute a denial of the request.

SECTION 7. Outdoor Lighting of Commercial Properties

A. Any commercial lighting that conforms to this local law shall qualify to be considered a permitted use. All Sections of this local law apply to commercial zones with the exception of, and including the specific regulations of this Section.

B. All applications for commercial exterior lighting shall include an illumination map showing the designed illumination levels at intervals of 10’ or less for all points greater than 0.05 foot- candles.

C. The following limits of illumination apply to all commercial lighting, measured in foot- candles in a horizontal or any vertical plane nearest the area so constrained:

Task Area Average (not to exceed) Maximum (at any point) Active Building Entrance Approach 2.0 fc 5 fc

Gas Station Approach 2 fc

Gas Station Pump Area 5 fc 10 fc

Sidewalks 0.5 fc 5 fc

Surface of signs (measured at the face) 2 fc,

Parking Lots 0.8 fc 10 fc

Light Tresspass on adjacent commercial properties 1 fc Light Tresspass on any residentially zoned property 0.05 fc

D. The maximum total lumens for any commercially zoned property shall be less than 55,000 lumens per acre, pro-rated.

SECTION 8. Compliance, Existing lighting.

A. Any exterior lighting existing on the effective date of this local law which is not in compliance with local law shall be removed, relocated or altered so as to be brought into compliance with the provisions hereof within one (1) year of enactment of this local law.

B. The Board of Trustees may permit any pre-existing non-conforming lighting to continue for a limited time beyond that time period provided for in this section provided that:

1. An application is made by the owner of the property to the Board of Trustees at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the date on which such lighting must be removed, relocated or altered;

2. The Board of Trustees shall find, in connection with such pre-existing nonconforming lighting, that an unnecessary hardship has been created. In order to prove the unnecessary hardship, the applicant shall demonstrate to the Board of Trustees that:

a. The applicant had made, prior to the effective date of this local law, substantial financial expenditures related to the lighting demonstrated by competent financial evidence; and

b. The applicant has not realized a reasonable return on such financial expenditures; and

3. The period for which such lighting may be permitted to continue is the minimum period sufficient for the applicant to realize a substantial return on such financial expenditures.

C. For purposes of this section, "financial expenditures" shall mean the capital outlay made by the applicant to purchase and/or install the lighting, exclusive of the fair market value of the building or structures to which the lighting is attached and exclusive of any improvements unrelated to the pre-existing non-conforming lighting.

SECTION 9. Penalties for Offenses.

1. The Board of Trustees may commence actions to enjoin violations of this local law.

2. Each violation of this local law shall be punishable by a fine according to Section 104 of the Code of the Village of Old Brookville. SECTION 10-- For Reference Only:

Comparison of efficiency of various light sources

Initial Output Approx Power (watts) (Lumens) Incandescent CFL LED 490 40 9 9 855 60 15 13 1180 75 20 15 1750 100 26 18 2800 150 40 25 SECTION 11 Fully-shielded Luminaires, for illustration only SECTION 12. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this local law shall be adjudged by any court or competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

SECTION 13. This local law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State.