(A) General requirements.
(1) All exterior lighting, such as that used in and around buildings, recreation areas, parking lots and signs, shall be designed to protect against the spillover of light to adjacent properties. It shall also be designed to protect against glare onto public rights-of-way thereby impairing the vision of motorists and adjoining properties.
(2) All exterior lighting shall be shielded from adjacent properties by thick evergreen vegetated buffers, berms, walls or fences, and/or the use of directional lighting, lighting shields, special fixtures, timing devices, appropriate light intensities, luminaries and mountings at appropriate heights.
(3) Exterior lighting shall be architecturally integrated with the building’s style, materials and colors in the selection and design of light poles, brackets, and fixtures.
(4) All exterior lighting shall not interfere with operation of aircraft.
(B) Lighting plan required.
(1) A lighting plan indicating illumination intensities shall be submitted with site plans, plot plans and subdivision plats except for single-family detached and manufactured homes on individual lots. The Zoning Administrator is authorized to waive this requirement for small independent development projects on less than an acre if the fixture types are specified on the site plan or plat.
(2) Any changes to the lighting plan must be approved by the Zoning Administrator through a site or plot plan revision and/or subdivision plat revision.
(C) Exterior lighting standards.
(1) General standards.
(a) Outdoor lighting shall be designed, located and mounted at heights no greater than:
1. Eighteen feet above grade for non-cut-off lights; and
2. Thirty-five feet above grade for cut-off lights.
(b) Within Accident Potential Zones, the use of cutoff and semi-cutoff high sodium vapor lighting is required.
(c) All outdoor lighting shall be designed and located such that the maximum illumination measured in foot candles at a property line shall not exceed 0.4 for non cut-off lights and 1.5 for cut-off lights. Cut-off lighting shall be designed to direct light downward (e.g., shoe box style).
(d) For parking lots, the minimum light level shall be no less than 0.2 foot-candles. The average foot-candle maintained to the minimum foot-candles ratio shall be no greater than four to one (upper to lower limits).
(e) All outdoor lighting fixtures shall be located a minimum of ten feet from a property or right-of-way line and should not be within a required perimeter or streetscape buffer unless it is located at the interior edge.
(f) Floodlights, spotlights or any other similar lighting shall not be used to illuminate buildings or other site features unless approved as an integral architectural element on the development plan. On-site lighting may be used to accent architectural elements and not be used to illuminate entire portions of building(s).
(2) Lighting for canopies.
(a) Lighting for canopies shall be restricted to lighting fixtures (including lenses) that do not project below the bottom of the canopy. Lighting for canopies for service stations and other similar uses shall not exceed an average of 20 foot-candles as measured at ground level at the inside of the outside edge of the canopy.
(b) Canopies used for building accents over doors, windows and the like, shall not be internally lit (i.e., from underneath or behind the canopy).
(3) Wall pack lights.
(a) Wall packs on buildings may be used at entrances to a building to light unsafe areas. They are not intended to draw attention to the building or provide general building or site lighting.
(b) Wall packs on the exterior of the building shall be fully shielded (true cut-off type--bulb or light source not visible from off-site) to direct the light vertically downward and be of low wattage (preferably 100 watts or lower).
(4) Illumination of outdoor sports fields and outdoor events areas.
(a) All the lighting fixtures shall be equipped with a glare control package (e.g., louvers, shields or similar devices), and the fixtures shall be aimed so that their beams are directed and fall within the primary playing or event area; and
(b) The hours of operation for the lighting system for any game or event shall not exceed one hour after the end of the game or event.
(5) Sign lighting. Lighting fixtures illuminating signs shall comply with the requirements of § 157.09, and the fixtures shall be aimed and shielded so that direct illumination is focused exclusively on the sign face.
(6) Timer devices.
(a) Timer devices shall be employed to shut off luminaries or to reduce light levels when full lighting is not required, such as after normal business hours.
(b) Special attention shall be given to protecting adjoining residential properties from off-site illumination after 10:00 pm.
(Ord. passed 7-25-2011)