Fairfax supervisors OK lighting restrictions around observatory
Originally published in gazetteleader
Brian Trompeter Nov 27, 2023 10:11 AM
Photo Credit © Adobe Stock photo
New outdoor-lighting rules approved unanimously by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 21 aim to ensure night skies above Turner Farm Park Observatory in Great Falls will not be subject to worsening light pollution – at least from the surrounding neighborhood.
“Although Fairfax is in an overall area of light pollution, due to the scientific properties of light, lighting near the observatory has a greater impact on the ability to view the night sky from that location,” said Deputy Zoning Administrator Carmen Bishop, who led the staff presentation at the meeting.
The new outdoor-lighting rules are designed not only to reduce light pollution, but also improve safety and security, she said. A total of 525 residential properties will be impacted.
Following their approval in February 2020 of a zoning-ordinance amendment that updated county outdoor-lighting standards, supervisors directed county staff to consider further zoning rules to protect dark skies around astronomical facilities.
(See new rules below.)
State law allows localities to regulate outdoor lighting within a half-mile radius of astronomical observatories, meteorological laboratories and planetariums.
The new rules, which took effect the following day, only regulate Turner Farm’s. The observatory at George Mason University’s observatory at its Fairfax campus is not subject to the county’s regulations, because it is on state-government property.
The Turner Farm property, which Fairfax County obtained in 1998, formerly was used by the Defense Mapping Agency and as a Nike missile-control site. Besides the observatory, the park also has equestrian facilities.
The observatory opened in 2016 and since January 2018 has served more than 16,500 people through viewing sessions and educational programs, officials said.
The Analemma Society, whose volunteers staff Turner Farm Observatory Park, is seeking to have the International Dark Sky Association designate the site as an Urban Night Sky Place.
“The observatory is an important and unique STEM educational resource that may serve to inspire students in their pursuit of further education and training and eventually join the STEM workforce,” said Jennifer Falcone, who chairs the Great Falls Citizens Association’s Land Use and Zoning Committee.
“The evolution of lighting technology and the introduction and popularity of bright LED lighting, GFCA believes this measure is especially appropriate,” added Falcone, who lives within the zone affected by the new lighting standards. “This amendment is not onerous . . . Security is not compromised by dark-sky-compliant lighting.”
Artificial light has been doubling every 10 years and causing sky glow, hence threatening the Turner Farm observatory, said Christina Tyler Wenks, an Analemma Society board member who volunteers at the site.
“Without action to preserve the night, our observatory has 10, maybe 15, years left,” Wenks said in video testimony.
Modern LED lights are significantly brighter than old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, said Eileen Kragie, president of Dark Sky Friends. Light crosses property boundaries and into people’s bedrooms, as well as public parks and common sky, she said.
“I don’t have the right to trespass onto your property,” Kragie said. “Why do my lights? Nothing onerous is being asked of anyone – simply to have kind, considerate and responsible lighting.”
Support for the amendment has not been unanimous in the community, said Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville). An Oct. 18 Planning Commission public hearing drew several neighbors of the observatory who protested the proposed regulations, citing property rights and security concerns.
County staff modified the proposed amendment following public feedback and the final result is a “very reasonable approach to the challenge that we have,” Foust said. “I just think this is a wonderful way to start the process of trying to preserve a sky that we can observe through the telescopes. Really [the observatory is] unique. It’s not like anything else we have in this county.”
Supervisor Daniel Storck (D-Mount Vernon) said he hoped the new rules would be the start of a mostly voluntary effort to reduce light pollution in the county.
Supervisor Penelope Gross (D-Mason) thanked those who testified at the meeting for their educational remarks.
“We don’t necessarily need all of that light,” she said. “I really do hope that Turner Farm Park will be able to serve future generations and that we can keep it relatively dark there.”
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Under the new rules:
> Legally existing lights may remain until replaced by their owners, who then will have to buy lights that meet the new standards.
> Motion-activated lights on single-family residential lots need not meet the full cut-off or setback/shielding requirements if they are 1,500 lumens or less (equal to about one 100-watt incandescent bulb), versus the standard of 4,000 lumens or less for the rest of the county. In addition, those lights must continue to comply with existing standards requiring them to turn off within five minutes and be directed within the property.
> All outdoor lights must have full cut-off features and comply with setback and shielding regulations, except ones putting out 20 lumens or less and lights near doors and garages generating no more than 1,500 lumens per fixture.
> Uplights or spotlights highlighting flags, landscaping or architectural features now are limited to 300 lumens apiece, with no limit on the number of fixtures.
> Outdoor lights must have a color temperature no higher than 3,000 degrees Kelvin, the same as elsewhere in the county.
> There may be any number of lights, and of any brightness, provided they have full cut-off shielding.