Depew City Zoning Code
§ 260-36
Site lighting.
Purpose: Nonresidential and multifamily buildings and projects shall be designed to provide safe, convenient, and efficient lighting for pedestrians and vehicles. Lighting shall be designed in a consistent and coordinated manner for the entire site and done in such a manner to minimize light pollution. The lighting and lighting fixtures shall be integrated and designed so as to enhance the visual impact of the project on the community and/or should be designed to blend into the surrounding landscape. Lighting fixtures shall be designed, sized and located so as not to cast direct rays of light upon adjoining premises or cause glare hazardous to pedestrians or persons using adjacent public streets. Illumination shall not be used for the purpose of advertising or attracting attention to the principal use, except as permitted in the sign regulations.
A.
Applicability. A site lighting plan shall be required during review of any nonresidential or multifamily site and development plan. The contents of the site lighting plan shall be established during the site plan submission or at the request of the Planning Board.
B.
Site lighting design requirements. Lighting shall be used to provide safety while accenting key architectural elements and to emphasize landscape features. Light fixtures shall be designed as an integral design element that complements the design of the project. This can be accomplished through style, material or color. All lighting fixtures designed or placed so as to illuminate any portion of a site shall meet the following requirements:
(1)
Fixture (luminaire). The light source shall be concealed and shall not be visible from any street right-of-way or adjacent properties. In order to direct light downward and minimize the amount of light spillage into the night sky and onto adjacent properties, all lighting fixtures shall be cutoff fixtures (dark sky compliant). Only architectural lighting may be directed upward, provided that all other provisions of this section are met.
(2)
Fixture height. Lighting fixtures shall be a maximum of 25 feet in height within parking lots and shall be a maximum of 15 feet in height within nonvehicular pedestrian areas.
(3)
Limit lighting to periods of activity. The use of sensor technologies, timers or other means to activate lighting during times when it will be needed may be required by the Village of Depew to promote compatibility between different land uses and mitigate any potential light nuisances.
(4)
Illumination level. Illumination levels shall be measured in footcandles.
(5)
All site lighting shall be designed so that the level of illumination, as measured in footcandles at any one point, meets the standards in the table below.
(6)
Minimum and maximum levels are measured on the pavement within the lighted area. Average level is the overall, generalized ambient light level, and is measured as a not-to-exceed value. The average level shall be calculated using only the area of the site intended to receive illumination.
Lighting Type | Lighting Level (footcandles) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Minimum | Average | Maximum | ||
Architectural | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | |
Canopy area | 2.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | |
Multifamily parking lots | 0.20 | 1.0 | 8.0 | |
Nonresidential and multifamily entrances and exits | 1.0 | 5.0 | 15.0 | |
Nonresidential parking lots | 0.2 | 1.5 | 10.0 | |
Security | 0.2 | 1.0 | 10.0 | |
Vehicle sales, rental and leasing | 0.2 | 3.0 | 15.0 | |
Walkways, landscape or decorative | 0.2 | 0.8 | 5.0 | |
(7)
All outdoor lighting shall be designed and located such that the maximum illumination measured in footcandles at the property line does not exceed 0.2 on adjacent residential use and 0.5 on adjacent commercial sites and public rights-of-way.
(8)
Lighting shall not be oriented so as to direct glare or excessive illumination onto streets in a manner that may distract or interfere with the vision of drivers on such streets.
C.
Lighting required for specific uses.
(1)
Sites adjacent to residential uses.
(a)
All lights shall be shielded so as to deflect light away from any residential use.
(b)
Illumination at the public right-of-way line when a nonresidential use is across the public right-of-way from a residential use shall not exceed one footcandle.
(c)
All light fixtures located within 50 feet of any residential use shall not exceed 15 feet in height.
(d)
Unless properly shielded, security lighting fixtures such as wall packs shall not face a residential use.
(2)
Canopy area lighting. All development that incorporates a canopy area over fuel sales, automated bank machines, or similar installations shall use a recessed lens cover flush with the bottom surface of the canopy that provides a cutoff or shielded light distribution. Areas under a vehicular canopy shall have an average of ten footcandles as measured at ground level at the inside of the outside edge of the canopy.
(3)
Automated teller machines. An automated teller machine (ATM) shall be illuminated in accordance with the ATM Safety Act (New York State Banking Law, Article II-AA).
D.
Prohibited light sources. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following light sources, light fixtures and/or lighting methods shall not be used for exterior lighting.
(1)
Wooden utility poles, with or without overhead electric.
(2)
Cobra-head-type fixtures or fixtures with a convex lens.
(3)
Searchlights and other high-intensity narrow-beam fixtures.
(4)
Lighting fixtures that have flashing, rotating, moving, pulsing or alternating colored sources, except between Thanksgiving Day and January 15.