Norton City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XX
Lighting
§ 175-20.1 Findings and purpose.
Appropriately designed outdoor lighting benefits everyone. It increases safety, provides security and enhances the Town's character. New lighting technologies may produce lights that are extremely powerful. Improperly designed or installed, they create problems of excessive glare, light trespass and higher energy use; at their worst they degrade the Town's visual character and may reduce adjacent property values. The purpose of this bylaw is to eliminate the problems created by improperly designed and installed outdoor lighting.
§ 175-20.2 Applicability.
This bylaw shall apply to the construction and installation of outdoor lighting, except that the following uses shall be exempt from regulation by this bylaw:
A.
Lighting which is an accessory use to one- and two-family residential dwellings;
B.
Streetlighting and lights that control traffic;
C.
Outdoor lighting fixtures using an incandescent lamp or lamps of 150 watts or less and all outdoor lighting using a nonincandescent lamp or lamps of 50 watts or less.
§ 175-20.3 Objectives and standards.
All outdoor lighting shall conform to the following objectives and standards:
A.
Lighting levels shall be appropriate for the intended use; excessive levels of light, glare and light trespass will not be permitted;
B.
The use of floodlights shall not be permitted except with the explicit approval of the Planning Board; the Planning Board will not approve light levels which exceed professionally recognized standards for use such as those published by the Illuminating Engineers Society of North America (IES/IESNA);
C.
Lights which do not conceal the light source from direct view shall be avoided; flat lens, shoebox type fixtures or recessed fixtures shall be used in all cases where they are available for the proposed use;
D.
Energy-efficient light sources such as sodium, metal halide or fluorescent are preferred;
E.
Lighting fixtures (luminaires) shall not exceed 20 feet in height except as specifically approved by the Planning Board;
F.
Exterior light fixtures shall, at a minimum, be "full cutoff" fixtures which do not emit any light above a 90° horizontal plane unless specifically approved by the Norton Planning Board;
G.
Wall-pack fixtures shall be full cutoff fixtures equipped with a prismatic lens to cast light downward and reduce glare and shall be designed to a maximum cutoff of 70° from vertical; the location of the wall-pack on a structure shall not exceed a height of 20 feet;
H.
In no case shall the intensity of illumination exceed 0.1 vertical footcandle beyond the property line;
I.
Outdoor lighting shall not be permitted between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. except as follows:
(1)
If the use is being operated, such as a business open to customers, or where employees are working or where an institution or place of public assembly is conducting an activity, normal illumination shall be allowed during the activity and for not more than 1/2 hour after the activity ceases;
(2)
Low-level lighting sufficient for the security of persons or property on the lot may be in operation between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., provided the average illumination on the ground or on any vertical surface is not greater than 0.5 footcandle.