Schwenksville City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIV
Exterior Lighting
§ 176-1400 Purpose.
The purpose of this article is to regulate the placement, orientation distribution patterns, and fixture types of exterior lighting. Furthermore, it is the intent of this article to:
A.
Provide lighting in outdoor public spaces where public health, safety, and welfare are potential concerns.
B.
Protect drivers and pedestrians from the glare of nonvehicular 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 character of Schwenksville Borough.
§ 176-1401 Applicability.
A.
Exterior lighting shall be required for safety and personal security for uses that operate during hours of darkness where there is a public assembly and traverse, including but not limited to the following uses: multifamily residential, commercial, industrial, public-recreational, and institutional.
B.
The Schwenksville Borough Council may require lighting be incorporated for other uses or locations, as they deem necessary.
C.
The glare-control requirements herein contained apply to lighting in all above-mentioned uses as well as, but not limited to, sign, architectural, landscape, and residential lighting.
§ 176-1402 Definitions.
The following terms, when used in this article, shall be defined as follows:
DIRECT LIGHT
Light emitted directly from the lamp, off of the reflector or reflector diffuser, or through the reflector or diffuser lens, of a luminaire.
FIXTURE
The assembly that houses the lamp or lamps and can include all or some of the following parts: a housing, a mounting bracket or pole socket, a lamp holder, a ballast, a reflector or mirror, and/or a refractor or lens.
FLOOD OR SPOT LIGHT
Any light fixture or lamp that incorporates a reflector or a refractor to concentrate the light output into a directed beam in a particular direction.
FOOTCANDLE
A unit of light intensity stated in lumens per square foot and measurable with an illuminance meter, a.k.a. footcandle or light meter.
FULLY-SHIELDED LIGHTS
Outdoor light fixture shielded or constructed so that no light rays are emitted by the installed fixture at angles above the horizontal plane as certified by a photometric test report.
GLARE
The sensation produced by lighting that causes an annoyance, discomfort, or loss in visual performance and visibility to the eye.
HEIGHT OF LUMINAIRE
The height of a luminaire shall be the vertical distance from the ground directly below the center line of the luminaire to the lowest direct-light-emitting part of the luminaire.
INDIRECT LIGHT
Direct light that has been reflected or has scattered off of other surfaces.
LIGHT TRESPASS
The shining of light produced by a luminaire beyond the boundaries of the property on which it is located.
LUMEN
A unit of luminous flux. One footcandle is one lumen per square foot. For the purposes of this chapter, the lumen-output values shall be the initial lumen output ratings of a lamp.
LUMINAIRE
This a complete lighting system, and includes a lamp or lamps and a fixture.
OUTDOOR LIGHTING
The nighttime illumination of an outside area or object by any man-made device located outdoors that produces light by any means.
TEMPORARY OUTDOOR LIGHTING
The specific illumination of an outside area of object by any man-made device located outdoors that produces light by any means for a period of less than seven days, with at least 180 days passing before being used again.
§ 176-1403 Criteria.
A.
Illumination levels.
1.
Lighting, where required by this chapter, shall have intensities and uniformity ratios in accordance with the current recommended practices of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North American (IESNA) as contained in the IESNA Lighting Handbook.
2.
Future amendments to said recommended practices shall become a part of this chapter without further action of the Borough.
3.
Examples of intensities for typical outdoor applications, as extracted from the 8th Edition of the Lighting Handbook, are presented below.
Use/Task | Maintained Footcandles | Uniformity-Avg.: Min. |
|---|---|---|
Streets, local residential | 0.4 Avg. | 6:1 |
Streets, local commercial | 0.9 Avg. | 6:1 |
Parking, residential, multifamily | ||
Low vehicular/pedestrian activity | 0.2 Min. | 4:1 |
Medium vehicular/pedestrian activity | 0.6 Min. | 4:1 |
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 |
Walkways and bikeways | 0.5 Avg. | 5:1 |
Building entrances | 5.0 Avg. | — |
B.
Lighting fixture design.
1.
Fixtures shall be of a type and design appropriate to the lighting application, and aesthetically acceptable to the Borough Council based on the recommendation of the Planning Commission and the Borough Engineer.
2.
For lighting horizontal tasks such as roadways, pathways, and parking areas, fixtures shall meet IESNA cutoff criteria (not more than 2.5% of their light output emitted above 90° 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 Borough Council, 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 chapter; 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, i.e., disabling glare, and so as not to present a hazard to drivers or pedestrians, or a nuisance glare concern to neighboring properties.
2.
Directional fixtures such as floodlights and spotlights shall be so installed or aimed that they do not project their output into the windows or neighboring residences, adjacent uses, directly skyward or onto a roadway.
3.
Unless otherwise permitted by the Borough Council, e.g., for safety or security, lighting shall be controlled by automatic switching devices such as time clocks or combination motion detectors and photocells, to permit extinguishing offending sources between 11:00 p.m. and dawn to mitigate nuisance glare and skylighting consequences.
4.
Where all-night safety or security lighting is to be provided, the lighting intensity levels shall not exceed 25% of the levels normally permitted by this chapter for the use.
5.
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.
6.
The intensity of illumination projected onto a residential use from another property shall not exceed 0.1 vertical footcandle, measured at 30 inches above the ground at the property line.
7.
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 11:00 p.m. and dawn.
D.
Installation.
1.
Electrical feeds for lighting standards shall be run underground, not overhead.
2.
Lighting standards in parking areas shall be placed a minimum of five feet outside paved area, or on concrete foundations at least 30 inches high above the pavement, or suitably protected by other approved means.
E.
Maintenance. Lighting fixtures and ancillary equipment shall be maintained so as to comply with this chapter.
§ 176-1404 Fixture placement in residential developments.
Streetlighting fixtures in residential developments shall be placed at the following locations:
A.
At the intersection of public roads with entrance roads to the proposed development.
B.
Intersections involving proposed public or nonpublic primary distributor streets within the proposed development.
C.
At the apex of the curve of any primary distributor street, public or nonpublic, within the proposed development, having less than three-hundred-foot minimum center-line radius.
D.
Cul-de-sac bulb radii.
E.
Terminal ends of center median islands having concrete-structure curbing, trees and/or other fixed objects not having breakaway design for speeds of 25 m.p.h. or greater.
§ 176-1405 Plan submission.
A.
Lighting plans shall be submitted to the municipality for review and approval and shall include:
1.
Layout of the proposed fixture locations.
2.
Isofootcandle plots for individual fixture installations and ten-foot by ten-foot illuminance-grid plots for multifixture installations, that demonstrate compliance with the intensities and uniformities set forth in this chapter.
3.
Description of equipment, including fixture catalog cuts, photometrics, glare reduction devices, lamps, control devices, mounting heights and mounting methods proposed.
B.
When requested by the Borough Council, the applicant shall submit a visual impact plan that demonstrates appropriate steps have been taken to mitigate on-site and off-site glare.
C.
Post-approval alterations to lighting plans or intended substitutions for approved lighting equipment shall be submitted to the Borough for review and approval.
§ 176-1406 Post-installation inspection.
The Borough reserves the right to conduct a post-installation nighttime inspection to verify compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and if appropriate, to require remedial action at no expense to the Borough.
§ 176-1407 Compliance monitoring.
A.
Safety hazards.
1.
If the Borough 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.
2.
If the appropriate corrective action has not been effected within 30 days of notification, the Borough may levy a fine for as long as the hazard continues to exist.
B.
Nuisance glare and inadequate illumination levels.
1.
When the Borough judges an installation produces unacceptable levels of nuisance glare, skyward light, excessive or insufficient illumination levels or otherwise varies from this chapter, the Borough may cause notification of the person(s) responsible for the lighting and require appropriate remedial action.
2.
If the infraction so warrants, the Borough may act to have the problem corrected as in Subsection A(2) above.
C.
Nonconforming lighting.
1.
Any lighting fixture or lighting installation existing on the effective date of this chapter that does not conform with the requirements of this chapter, 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 chapter when:
I.
The nonconformance is deemed to create a safety hazard.
II.
It is replaced and relocated.
b.
Nonconforming lighting fixtures and lighting installations shall be made to conform with the requirements of this chapter or removed within 10 years after the effective date of this chapter.
§ 176-1408 Streetlight dedication.
When streetlighting is to be dedicated to the Borough, the applicant shall be responsible for all costs involved in the lighting of streets and street intersections from the date of the first dwelling is occupied until the street is accepted for dedication.
A.
Upon dedication of public roads, the Borough shall assess the homeowners' association, individual property owners, or corporation, as may be necessary, to collect all revenues required which are directly or indirectly associated with all costs of each specific streetlighting fixture. These costs shall include:
1.
Administration.
2.
Collection.
3.
Proration of nonpayables.
4.
Actual utility electrical charges.
5.
Maintenance and maintenance contracts for maintenance of fixtures and associated equipment.
B.
Prior to dedication, and in the event of the formation of a homeowners' association and/or a property management declaration, the Borough shall require said agency to enter into an agreement guaranteeing the Borough payment of all costs associated with streetlighting.
