Light Pollution Abatement Site Calgary Centre Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

City of Calgary: By-law Project

Community Standards Bylaw Project

The City of Calgary enacts by-laws to protect the quality of life in our community. In 2001, Calgary initiated the Community Standards Project to update those by-laws that concern property, pollution, traffic, and noise. City Council's Standing Policy Committee on Operations and Environment added light pollution to the project last year.

Since September 2001, City Administration and about 45 citizens have been working together to identify what Calgarians want in the new by-law. The committee members discussed many issues related to creating an effective outdoor lighting by-law. They have been very receptive to our recommended light pollution solutions. Lighting practices in Calgary have been categorised as acceptable, problematic, and unacceptable to focus on how to control outdoor lighting.

City administration wants to know your thoughts about light pollution and any other quality of life issue in Calgary.

OUTDOOR LIGHTING BY-LAW AND COMMUNITY STANDARDS

Writing a light pollution bylaw requires consideration of many factors. What is the purpose, what are the issues that we want to correct and control, how do we address existing bad lighting and how do we ensure responsible lighting in the future? Below we discuss some of these and we would appreciate your feedback. You can email either the Light Pollution Abatement Committee at: (Note: You must use these words in the Subject Line of an e-mail: "Light Pollution Info Request") or contact the City of Calgary at:

Why Calgary Needs an Outdoor Lighting Bylaw

A light control bylaw is a natural extension of existing City of Calgary bylaws that cover Land Use (2P80), Noise (45M95), and Temporary Signs on Highways (29M97). These bylaws are covered by the Municipal Government Act, Part 17, which contains the following purpose statement:

To maintain and improve the quality of the physical environment within which patterns of human settlement are situated in Alberta.

In the Land use Bylaw 2P80, sections 33 (13) and 42.1 (6) state, All on-site lighting shall be located, oriented and shielded so as not to adversely affect (the) adjacent residential properties.

In the Appendix, Sign Regulations of the Land Use Bylaw, section 59 (10) states, The lighting or orientation of a sign must not adversely affect any residential district.

The Sign portion of Land Use Bylaw is over 40 pages in length, showing the legitimate concern the City of Calgary has for aesthetics and safety. As noted in the city publication, A Billboard Development Policy Guide for Calgary, "from a planning and urban design perspective, billboards can have an excessively disproportionate impact on the visual environment and require substantial application of technical resources to ensure their proper and efficient regulation." This statement is overwhelmingly true for nighttime lighting, where not only is the aesthetic landscape dominated by lights, but safety issues raised by improper lighting are more significant.

Page 8 of the Billboard Development Guide, an interpretation guide to part of the Land Use Bylaw, lists the six principles that govern the City of Calgary's thinking in regards to billboard signs:

• Principle 1: To promote the development and maintenance of a high quality urban environment in order to make Calgary a more desirable city to live, work and visit.

• Principle 2: To ensure that billboards are integrated and harmonious with the sites that they occupy and with nearby areas, by preventing excessive and confusing sign proliferation.

• Principle 3: To protect vistas, open spaces, buildings, landmarks and areas characterised by unique environmental, cultural, historical and architectural resources.

• Principle 4: To ensure the visual integrity of established, newly developing and future residential areas, especially at their edges and along public thoroughfares serving these areas. This includes comprehensively planned and designed sites.

• Principle 5: To maintain the safety, convenience and enjoyment of public travel in vehicles and on foot, and to protect public investments in roadway design and landscaping, as well as generally maintaining and enhancing the aesthetic features of public thoroughfares and transit corridors.

• Principle 6: To restrict and, where appropriate, prohibit billboards having the potential for increasing the probability of traffic accidents by obstructing vision, or causing confusion with official traffic control devices.

It is obvious that nighttime lighting has an even stronger impact on those principles than do billboards. Because nighttime lighting is not regulated like signs are, businesses are using obtrusive light fixtures to garner the attention that they would have previously obtained by using out-sized signs. We see such lighting at newer gas bars and various car lots in the city. This increase in illumination levels has a name in marketing circles in the United States; it's called "ratcheting."

Purpose of the By-law

An outdoor lighting by-law should encourage responsible lighting to reduce glare, light trespass, and energy waste. It will also protect the night-time environment and preserve our heritage of beautiful night skies.

Downward Directed Light

Shielded or "Full Cut Off" light fixtures that are properly aimed downward are a must. This will solve most light trespass and glare problems, and it will significantly reduce sky glow, which hampers scientific observations at the University of Calgary's astronomical observatory near Priddis. Shielded lights will also prevent horizontally and upward-directed light that can be hazardous to safe airplane operations at the Calgary International Airport.

Glare Reduction and Control

Glare always reduces visibility, which reduces traffic and personal safety. Lights should be shielded and aimed so that they are not directly visible from the roads, alleys and pathways (driver, cyclist and pedestrian safety), and so that they do not obscure traffic signs or cause confusion.

Light Trespass (Privacy) Issues

Light trespass, or "spill light," should be minimised. Light trespass can occur between all types of property: residential, commercial, retail, industrial and municipal. How do we define trespass? Is it light shining on your property or just in your windows? Calgary's current Land Use By-law addresses light from commercial and industrial properties shining onto residential property, but it is not enforced, and developers and business owners generally ignore it. For light trespass between residential properties (single and multifamily), unshielded, 60-watt incandescent lights may (or not) be acceptable, but all brighter lights should be shielded and aimed to prevent light trespass.

Environment Issues

Locations near natural and wildlife areas must consider the adverse impacts of night lighting, such as with migrating bird life and disruptions to the activities of nocturnal animals.

Lighting Zones

Some lighting codes, in use in other cities, now include the concept of lighting zones to distinguish different types of lighting areas. For example, parks, and wildlife refuges, and areas near astronomical observatories require much lower levels of lighting than in city centres.

Energy Waste & Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Quality lighting can reduce electricity consumption and thereby reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In Alberta, most electricity is produced by at coal and gas fired generators. Each kilowatt-hour (one kilowatt-hour = one 100 W bulb left on for 10 hours) of electricity generated this way results in the emission of one kilogram of CO2 into our atmosphere. The use of energy efficient light sources should be encouraged. In the table below, the lights all produce about the same amount of light (lumens) but consume energy at different rates (watts):

Curfews and Time Controls

Turn off unneeded lighting. When a business closes, they don't need to leave all their exterior lighting on all night. Billboard lighting and illuminated signs can be turned off at night when very few people are out. Sports lighting should always be turned off when the events are over. Existing codes usually require businesses turn off exterior lighting and illuminated signs within 30 minutes of the close of business or 11:00 p.m., whichever is later. Billboards should also be turned off at 11:00 p.m. Although security lighting is of questionable value, exterior lights left on for security should be shielded and of lower intensity than display and other general area lighting. Motion-sensor activated lights may be more effective.

Security Lights

Numerous British and American studies show there is no relationship between lighting and crime. The studies do show that lighting makes us feel safer. The Calgary Police Service agrees. Their data shows that most break and entries (B&Es) occur when the occupants are away: house B&Es during the day and business B&Es during the night. Assaults generally occur between people who know each other and usually involve alcohol, drugs, or past differences. Many American schools have adopted a "Dark Campus" policy wherein there are no exterior lights at night. Vandalism virtually ceases. Convicts cite signs of occupancy, difficult entry, dogs and alarms as deterrents.

Lighting Levels

Auto dealerships, service stations, convenience stores, and some shopping malls are installing outdoor lighting that is much brighter than levels recommended by national and international lighting engineering organisations. This is purely an advertising ploy that circumvents sign by-laws (draw attention to the whole site or building instead of a using a sign). Such lighting can compromise safety rather than help, and it wastes energy. Illumination levels should be designed for the specific task or need and should not exceed the minimum levels as defined by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.

Exemptions

Do some kinds of lighting need to be excluded? Some examples are are low level holiday lighting, emergency lights, airport navigation lighting, and special events, such as the Calgary Stampede, etc. Time controls should still be used in some instances though.

Astronomical Issues

The University of Calgary's Rothney Astrophysical Observatory (home to one of three large telescopes in Canada) near Priddis, southwest of Calgary, is badly affected by poor lighting practices in Calgary. It is the only major observatory in Canada not protected by a light pollution by-law.

Existing Bad Lighting

Although new lighting or replacement lighting installations can easily meet the new lighting standards, how do we deal with the large amount of bad lighting that already exists? Should the by-law exempt all existing lighting? Or should there be a time limit by which such lighting must be replaced, say five years? Perhaps a compromise is that compliance with new standards is required when a fixture needs to be replaced or when a property is renovated? The City of Calgary should set a good example by committing to correct all of its bad lighting within 5 years.

Enforcement Issues

Outdoor lighting is somewhat different than other zoning issues. Inclusion of lighting requirements in development permits is an effective way to ensure initial compliance because not everyone is always familiar with the requirements of a by-law. For example, Calgary's current Land Use By-law addresses light from commercial and industrial properties shining onto residential property, yet developers ignore the law and the City does not enforce it. Calgary should enforce the existing Land Use By-law so that all existing non-residential lighting that causes trespass on residential property will be brought into compliance immediately. What provisions do we need in the new law to ensure compliance?

OUTDOOR LIGHTING PRACTICES

There many reasons to use night time lighting, typically for safety, to enhance surveillance, and for decorative purposes. The Light Pollution Abatement Committee of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Calgary Centre) has identified many lighting practices and grouped them into Acceptable and Problematic Lighting Practices for ease of discussion.

Acceptable Lighting Practices are those that cause limited light pollution or which relate directly to public safety. Problematic Lighting Practices relate to situations where lighting can cause a problem but where the solution is relatively straightforward, usually involving restrictions on where, how much and when light can be used. However, there are some lighting practices that must be prohibited because they are significant sources of light pollution and cannot be easily controlled. These lighting practices are listed below and the recommended solutions to problematic lighting practices is presented beside them.

Acceptable Lighting Practices

• Emergency lighting used by police, fire fighting, or medical personnel during the emergency

• Airport lighting used to the safe and efficient movement of aircraft during flight, take-off, landing, and taxiing

• Lasers used for meteorological and scientific purposes

• Christmas lights between December 1 and January 15

• Gas discharge lamps (neon, argon or other gases, i.e. a "neon" tube, but not a fluorescent tube)

• Red tower-marker lights

• White strobe lights on towers used during daytime

• Light from open flame

• Gas lanterns

• Underwater lighting

Problematic Lighting Practices

General

City of Calgary Controlled Lighting

Airport

Schools

Non-residential Lighting (retail, commercial, industrial, including hotels and motels)

Signs and Advertising (in general, turn off from 11:00 p.m. to sunrise)

Recreational Areas

Residential (single or multi-family dwelling)

Housing project, Apartment Building, Lodging House, Senior Citizen Complex, or Hospital