WEST WHITELAND TOWNSHIP
SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE
OUTDOOR LIGHTING SECTION
Section 424. Lighting Control
1. Purpose. The standards established in this section set forth criteria for:
(a) Providing lighting in outdoor public places where public health, safety and welfare are potential concerns.
(b) Controlling glare from non-vehicular light sources that shine directly into drivers and pedestrians eyes and thereby impair their safe traverse.
(c) Protecting neighbors and the night sky from nuisance glare and stray light from poorly aimed, placed, applied or shielded light sources.
2. Applicability. Outdoor lighting shall be required for safety and personal security in areas of public assembly and traverse; including but not limited to: multiple family dwelling unit, commercial, industrial, public recreational, and institutional uses. The Board of Supervisors may require lighting to be incorporated for other uses or locations as they deem necessary. The glare control requirements herein contained apply to lighting in all above mentioned uses as well as sign, architectural, landscaping, and residential lighting.
3. Criteria
A. Illumination Levels
(1) Illumination, 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) Lighting Handbook, from which typical uses and tasks are herein presented.
| 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 athletic/civic/cultural events. | 0.9 Min. |
4:1 |
| Medium activity, e.g. community shopping centers, office parks, hospitals, commuter lots, cultural/civic/ recreational events | 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 (0.9 x 4).
B. Fixture Design
(1) Fixtures shall be of a type and design appropriate to the lighting application, and aesthetically acceptable to the Board of Supervisors.
(2) For lighting of horizontal tasks such as roadways, pathways and parking areas, fixtures shall meet IESNA cutoff criteria (not have more than 2.5% of their light output emitted above 90 degrees at any lateral angle around the fixture).
(3) The use of floodlighting, spotlighting, wall-mounted fixtures, decorative globes and other fixtures not meeting IESNA cutoff criteria, shall be permitted only with the approval of the Board of Supervisors, based upon acceptable glare control.
(4) Fixtures shall be equipped with or be capable of being back fitted with light directing devices such as shields, visors or hoods when necessary to redirect offending light distribution.
C. Control of Nuisance and Disabling Glare
(1) All outdoor lighting, whether or not required by this ordinance; on private, residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, 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 (disabling glare), and so as not to create a nuisance by projecting or reflecting objectionable light onto a neighboring use or property (nuisance glare).
(2) Flood or spot lights shall be so installed or aimed that they do not project their output into the window of a neighboring residence, an adjacent use, directly skyward or onto a roadway.
(3) Unless otherwise permitted by the Board of Supervisors, lighting shall be controlled by automatic switching devices such as timers, motion detectors and photocells, to extinguish offending sources between 11 p.m. and dawn to mitigate glare and sky-lighting consequences. Where all-night safety or security lighting is deemed necessary, the lighting intensity levels shall generally not exceed 25% of the levels normally permitted by this ordinance but in no case shall they be less than the minimum levels for safety or security as invoked by IESNA.
(4) 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 mounting height, wattage, aiming angle, fixture placement, etc.
(5) The amount of illumination projected onto a residential use from another property shall not exceed 0.1 vertical footcandle at the dwelling.
(6) The amount of illumination projected onto any property line from another property shall not exceed 1.0 vertical footcandle.
D. Installation
(1) Fixtures meeting IESNA cutoff criteria shall not be mounted in excess of 20 feet above finished grade or mounted in excess of the maximum building height permitted in the district, whichever is less. Fixtures not meeting IESNA cutoff criteria shall not be mounted in excess of 15 feet above grade except as specifically approved by the Board of Supervisors.
(2) Fixtures used for general area lighting shall be aimed so as to project their output straight down, unless otherwise approved.
(3) Electrical feeds to lighting standards shall be run underground, not overhead.
(4) Lighting standards in parking areas shall be placed a minimum of 5 feet outside paved area, or on concrete pedestals at least 30 inches high above the pavement, or by other approved protective means.
(5) Fixtures used for architectural lighting, e.g., facade, feature, and landscape lighting shall be aimed so as not to project their output beyond the objects intended to be illuminated and shall be extinguished between the hours of 11 PM and dawn.
E. Maintenance - Lighting fixtures shall be maintained so as to always meet the requirements of this Section.
4. Plan Submission - Lighting plans shall be submitted to the municipality for review and approval and shall include:
A. Layout of the proposed fixture locations
B. Isofootcandle plots for individual fixture installations and 10X10 illuminance grid plots for multi-fixture installations, that demonstrate compliance with the intensities and uniformities set forth in this Ordinance
C. Description of the equipment, including fixture catalog cuts, photometrics, glare reduction devices, lamps, control devices, mounting heights and mounting methods proposed.
When requested by the Board of Supervisors, applicant shall submit a visual impact plan that demonstrates appropriate steps have been taken to mitigate glare.
Post approval alterations to lighting plans or intended substitutions for approved lighting equipment shall be submitted to the Township for review and approval.
5. Post Installation Inspection - 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.
6. Compliance Monitoring
A. Safety Hazards
(1) If the Township judges a lighting installation creates a safety or personal-security hazard, the person(s) responsible for the lighting shall be so notified and required to take remedial action within a specified time period.
(2) If appropriate corrective action has not been effected within the specified time period, the Township may take appropriate legal action.
B. Nuisance Glare and Inadequate Illumination Levels
(1) When the Township judges that an installation produces unacceptable levels of nuisance glare or skyward light or that illumination levels are insufficient or not being maintained in accordance with this Ordinance, the Township shall cause notification of the person(s) responsible for the lighting and require remedial action.
(2). If the infraction so warrants, the Township may act to have the problem corrected as in 6.A.(2) above.
7. Street Lighting Dedication
A. The Township may accept dedication of street lighting facilities in the instance of said lighting being in the right-of-way of a street dedicated to the Township. Street lighting may be accepted along with the acceptance of the street.
B. Until such time as the street lighting is dedicated, the developer of the tract (who has escrowed the street lighting) will be responsible for any and all costs associated with each streetlight. Such costs shall include, but not be limited to: administration, placement, electrical charges from the utility and maintenance.
C. Streetlights not dedicated to the Township will remain the responsibility of the developer or appropriate private entity to which the lights are turned over. Said private entity shall then assume all costs and responsibilities for the lighting in perpetuity.