EAST BRADFORD TOWNSHIP, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

OUTDOOR LIGHTING ORDINANCE

4/10/01

 

§ 115-57. Lighting. (Amended 4-10-2001 by Ord. No. 2-2001]

The following standards shall I apply to the design and operation of outdoor lighting for residential, commercial and institutional areas for loading, ingress and egress, parking, private recreational uses and institutional uses:

A. Purpose: to establish minimum standards for outdoor lighting to:

(1) Provide lighting in outdoor places where public health, safety and welfare are potential concerns.

(2) Protect drivers and pedestrians from the glare of nonvehicular light sources that affect driver vision.

(3) Protect neighbors and the night sky from nuisance glare and stray light from incorrectly aimed, placed, applied, maintained or shielded light sources.

B. Applicability.

(1) Outdoor lighting shall be provided in accordance with the following standards for multifamily residential, commercial, industrial; educational, private recreational and institutional uses.

(2) In addition, the glare-control requirements herein apply to lighting in all of the above-mentioned uses as well as, but Dot limited to, signs and architectural, landscaping and residential lighting.

C. Criteria.

(1) Illumination levels.

(a) Lighting, where required or permitted by this section, shall have intensities and uniformity ratios in accordance with the current recommended practices of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) as contained in the IESNA Lighting Handbook, 9th Edition.

(b) Examples of intensities for typical outdoor applications, as extracted from the 9th Edition of the Lighting Handbook, are presented below:

 Use/Task  Maintained Footcandles  Uniformity - Avg:Min.
 (a) Streets, local residential

 0.4 Avg.

 6:1

 (b) Streets, local commercial

 0.9 Avg.

 6:1

 (c) Parking, residential, multi-family    
 Low vehicular/pedestrian activity

 0.2 Min.

 4:1

 Medium vehicular/pedestrian activity

 0.6 Min.

 4:1

 (d) Parking, industrial/commercial/institutional/municipal    
 High activity, e.g., regional shopping centers/fast food facilities, major civic/cultural events and private recreational activities

 0.9 Min.

 4:1

 Medium activity, e.g. community shopping centers, office parks, hospitals, commuter lots

 0.6 Min.

 4:1

 Low activity, e.g., neighborhood shopping, industrial employee parking, schools, church parking.

 0.2 Min.

 4:1

 (e) Walkways and Bikeways

 0.5 Avg.

 5:1

 (f) Building entrances

 5.0 Avg.

 -

Notes:

1. Illumination levels are maintained horizontal footcandles on the task, e.g., pavement or area surface.

2. Uniformity ratios dictate that average illuminance values shall not exceed minimum values by more than the product of the minimum value and the specified ratio, e.g., for commercial parking high activity, the average footcandles shall not be in excess of 3.6, i.e. (0.9 x 4).

(2) Lighting fixture design.

(a) Fixtures shall be of a type and design appropriate to the lighting application.

(b) For lighting horizontal tasks such as roadways, pathways and parking areas, fixtures shall meet IESNA full-cutoff criteria.

(c) For nonhorizontal tasks, the use of floodlighting, spotlighting, wall-mounted fixtures, decorative globes and other fixtures not meeting IESNA full-cutoff criteria shall be remitted only with the approval of the Board of Supervisors, based upon acceptable glare control.

(d) Fixtures shall be equipped with or be capable of being back-fitted with tight-directing devices such as shields, visors or hoods when necessary to redirect offending light distribution.

(3) Control of glare, light pollution and light trespass.

(a) All outdoor lighting whether or not required by this chapter, on private, residential, commercial, industrial municipal, educational or institutional property, shall be aimed, located, designed, fitted and maintained, so as not to create glare, light pollution and light trespass.

(b) Floodlights and spotlights, when permitted, shall be so installed or aimed that they do not project their output into the windows of neighboring residences, adjacent uses, directly skyward or onto a roadway.

(c) All-night safety or security lighting shall be permitted, but the light-intensity levels shall not exceed 25% of the levels normally permitted for the use by this section.

(d) Lighted signs advertising individual business and combinations of businesses (as in a shopping center) may remain on until 15 minutes after closing of the business or combination of businesses and then shall be extinguished.

(e) Entrance signs to residential developments and to business parks or shopping centers may remain on throughout the night for identification purposes for emergency vehicles.

(f) Unless the Board of Supervisors specifically approves a period of outdoor lighting extending throughout the night for safety or security or unless lighting is provided as above in Subsection C(3)(c), (d) and (e), lighting shall be controlled by automatic switching devices, such as time clocks or combination motion detectors and photocells, to permit extinguishing lighting between 11:00 p.m. and dawn.

(g) Vegetation screens shall not be employed to serve as the primary means for controlling glare. Rather, glare control shall be achieved primarily through the use of such means as cutoff fixtures, shields and baffles, and appropriate application of fixture mounting height, wattage, aiming angle and fixture placement.

(h) The intensity of illumination projected onto a residential use from another property shall not exceed 0.1 vertical footcandle, measured at 30 inches above the ground at the property line.

(i) Externally illuminated signs shall be lighted by fixtures mounted at the top of the sign and aimed downward.

(j) Except as otherwise permitted in this section, fixtures meeting IESNA full-cutoff criteria shall not be mounted in excess of 20 feet above finished grade. Fixtures not meeting IESNA full-cutoff criteria shall not be mounted in excess of 16 feet above grade except as specifically approved by the Board of Supervisors.

(k) Fixtures used for architectural lighting, e.g., facade, fountain, feature and landscape lighting, shall be designed, fitted and aimed so as not to project their output beyond the objects intended to be illuminated.

(4) Installation.

(a) Electrical feeds for lighting standards shall be run underground, not overhead.

(b) Lighting standards to the rear of the parking spaces shall be placed a minimum of five feet outside paved areas, curbs or tire stops, or be suitably protected by other means approved by the Board of Supervisors.

(5) Maintenance. Lighting fixtures and ancillary equipment shall be maintained so as always to meet the requirements of this section.

E. Residential development fixture placement. Street lighting fixtures in multifamily residential developments and mobile home parks shall be placed at the following locations:

(1) At the intersection of public roads with entrance roads to the proposed development.

(2) Intersections involving proposed public or non-public major roads within the proposed development.

F. Recreational lighting. Outdoor lighting of public recreational activities, which would permit the conduct of such activities during nighttime, shall not be permitted either by the use of fixed, permanent lighting fixtures or by the use of temporary lighting fixtures. Lighting of recreational facilities for the private use of the owner of a single-family residential property or for the exclusive use by the members of a homeowners' association in a residential community, neither of which are for the use of the public, may be permitted, subject to other applicable requirements of this § 115-57.

G. Plan submission.

(1) Lighting plans shall be submitted to the township for review and approval for all proposed outdoor lighting, including but not limited to proposals which are part of a subdivision or land development plan, and shall include:

(a) Layout of the proposed fixture locations.

(b) For installations of up to four fixtures, an isofootcandle plot of the individual fixtures.

(c) Where more than four fixtures are used, a point-by-point plot using a 10 foot by 10 foot illuminance grid. This shall include a statistical summary of typical areas and include minimum, average and maximum values and uniformity ratios that demonstrate compliance with the intensities and uniformities set forth in this section.

(d) Description of the equipment, including fixture catalog cuts, photometrics, glare-reduction devices, lamps, control devices, mounting heights and mounting methods proposed.

(2) When requested by the Board of Supervisors, applicant shall submit a visual impact plan that demonstrates appropriate steps have been taken to mitigate on-site and off-site glare.

(3) Post-approval alterations to lighting plans or intended substitutions for approved lighting equipment shall be submitted to the township for review and approval.

H. Post-installation inspection.

(1) The township has the right to conduct a post-installation nighttime inspection to verify compliance with the requirements of this section, and. if appropriate, to require remedial action.

 

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