WEST PIKELAND TOWNSHIP
ORDINANCE NO. 2000 02
An Ordinance of the Township of West Pikeland, the County of Chester, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the Zoning Ordinance of 1976, by adding Section 1007 to Article X to control outdoor lighting by setting standards therefor, establishing procedures for plan submission and regulating non conforming lighting.
The Board of Supervisors of West Pikeland Township does hereby enact and ordain as follows:
Section 1. Zoning Ordinance of 1976, as amended, is hereby amended by the addition thereto following Section 1006 of Section 1007 "Outdoor Lighting" to read as follows:
Section 1007; Outdoor Lighting
A. Purpose
1. To require and set minimum standards for outdoor lighting in order to:
a. Provide lighting in outdoor public places where public health, safety and welfare are potential concerns.
b. Protect drivers and pedestrians from the glare of non vehicular light sources that shine into their eyes and thereby impair safe traverse.
c. Protect neighbors and the night sky from nuisance glare and stray light from poorly aimed, placed, applied, maintained or shielded light sources.
d. Protect and retain the rural character of the Township
B. Applicability
1. Outdoor lighting shall be required for safety and personal security for uses that operate during hours of darkness, where there is public assembly and traverse, including but not limited to the following: multi-family residential, commercial, industrial, public-recreational and institutional uses.
2. The Board of Supervisors may require lighting be incorporated for other uses or locations, as they deem necessary.
3. The glare control requirements herein contained apply to lighting in all above-mentioned uses as well as, but are not limited to, sign and architectural lighting.
C. Criteria
1. Illumination Levels
a. Lighting, where required by this Ordinance, 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, Current Edition.
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b. Future amendments to said recommended practices shall become a part of this Ordinance when and as adopted by the Township.
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, sidewalks, entrances and parking areas, fixtures shall met IESNA " full-cutoff' criteria (no light output emitted above 90 degrees at any lateral angle around the fixture).
c. The use of floodlighting, spotlighting, wall-mounted fixtures, decorative globes and spheres and other fixtures not meeting IESNA "full-cutoff' criteria, shall be permitted only with the approval of the Board of Supervisors, based upon applicability in retaining the rural character of the Township and achieving acceptable glare control.
d. When requested by the Township, fixtures shall be equipped with or be modified to incorporate light directing and/or shielding devices such as shields, visors, skirts or hoods to redirect offending light distribution and/or reduce direct or reflected glare.
3. Control of Nuisance and Disabling Glare
a. Outdoor lighting, whether or not required by this ordinance; on commercial, agricultural, industrial, public, recreational or institutional property; shall be aimed, located, designed, fitted and maintained so as not to present a hazard to drivers or pedestrians by impairing their ability to safely traverse and so as not to create a nuisance by projecting or reflecting objectionable light onto a neighboring use or property.
b. Floodlights and spotlights 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 public roadway.
c. Unless otherwise permitted by the Board of Supervisors, e.g., for safety or security or all-night operations, lighting shall be controlled by automatic switching devices such as time clocks or combination motion detectors and photocells, to permit extinguishing offending sources between 11 p.m. and dawn, to mitigate nuisance glare and sky-lighting consequences.
d. All non-essential lighting, including display, aesthetic, parking and sign lighting shall be required to be turned off after business hours, leaving only the necessary lighting for site security.
e. 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.
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f. The intensity of illumination projected onto a residential use from another property shall not exceed 0.1 vertical footcandle, measured at viewing height at the property line.
g. Externally illuminated billboards shall be lighted by fixtures mounted at the top of the sign and aimed downward. Such fixtures shall be automatically extinguished between the hours of 11 p.m. and dawn except as specifically approved by the Board of Supervisors.
h. Except as specifically approved by the Board of Supervisors, fixtures meeting IESNA "full cutoff' criteria shall not be mounted in excess of twenty (20) feet above finished grade and fixtures not meeting IESNA cutoff criteria shall not be mounted in excess of sixteen (16) feet above grade.
i. Directional fixtures for such applications as facade, fountain, feature and landscape illumination shall be aimed so as not to project their output beyond the objects intended to be illuminated, shall be extinguished between the hours of 11 p.m. and dawn and shall not be in conflict with the Township's aim to maintain its rural character.
j. Service-station canopy lighting shall be accomplished using flat-lens full-cutoff fixtures.
4. Installation
a. Electrical feeds for lighting standards shall be run underground, not overhead.
b. Lighting poles in parking areas shall be placed a minimum of five (5) feet outside paved area, or on concrete pedestals at least thirty (30) inches high above the pavement, or suitably protected by other approved means.
5. Maintenance
a. Lighting fixtures and ancillary equipment shall be maintained so as always to meet the requirements of this Ordinance.
D. Plan Submission
1. For subdivision and land development applications, lighting plans shall be submitted to the Township for review and approval and shall include:
a. Layout of the proposed fixture locations
b. Isofootcandle plots of individual fixture installations or 10'xl0' illuminance-grid plots for multi-fixture installations, which demonstrate compliance with the intensity and uniformity requirements as set forth in this Ordinance.
c. Description of the proposed equipment, including fixture catalog cuts, photometrics, glare reduction devices, lamps, on/off control devices, mounting heights, pole foundation details and mounting methods.
2. For non subdivision and land-development applications, the Board of Supervisors may elect to require that lighting plans and/or details also be submitted to the Township for their review and approval.
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3. When requested by the Board of Supervisors, applicant shall also submit a visual-impact plan that demonstrates appropriate steps have been taken to mitigate on-site and off-site glare and to retain the rural character of the Township.
4. Post-approval alterations to lighting plans or intended substitutions for approved lighting equipment shall be submitted to the Township for review and approval.
E. Post Installation Inspection
1. The Township reserves the right to conduct a post-installation nighttime inspection to verify compliance with the requirements of this Ordinance, and if appropriate, to require remedial action at no expense to the Township.
F. Compliance Monitoring
1. Safety Hazards
a. If Township judges a lighting installation creates a safety or personal-security hazard, the person(s) responsible for the lighting shall be notified and required to take remedial action.
b. If appropriate corrective action has not been effected within thirty (30) days of notification, the Township may commence legal action as provided in the Zoning Ordinance and the Municipalities Planning Code.
2. Nuisance Glare and Inadequate Illumination Levels
a. When Township judges an industrial commercial, Public recreational, institutional, and agricultural installation produces unacceptable levels of nuisance glare, skyward light, excessive or insufficient illumination levels or otherwise varies from this Ordinance, Township may cause notification of the person(s) responsible for the lighting and require appropriate remedial action.
b. If appropriate corrective action has not been effected within thirty (30) days of notification, the Township may commence legal action as provided the Zoning Ordinance and the Municipalities Planning Code.
G. Nonconforming Lighting
1. Any lighting fixture or lighting installation existing on the effective date of this Ordinance that does not conform with the requirements of this Ordinance, shall be considered as a lawful nonconformance subject to the following:
a. A nonconforming lighting fixture or lighting installation shall be made to conform with the requirements of this Ordinance when:
(1) It is deemed by the Township to create a safety hazard
(2) It is replaced, abandoned or relocated
(3) There is a change in use
b. Nonconforming lighting fixtures and lighting installations shall be made to conform with the requirements of this Ordinance or removed within five (5) years after the effective date of this Ordinance.
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SECTION 2. If any part of this Ordinance is adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect the remainder of the ordinance.
SECTION 3. This amendment shall take affect five days after adoption and enactment.
Enacted and ordained this 20th BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF
Day of March, 2000 WEST PIKELAND TOWNSHIP