Town Council Decides To Ignore Dark Sky Ordinance

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On May 28, the Charlestown Town Council voted 4 to 1, with Councilor Susan Cooper objecting, to acquire four more portable light towers. The lights will light the field behind the town hall to illuminate after-dark flag football for children aged 4 to 6 and tackle football for children aged 7 to 15. The lights will also be used in Ninigret Park to facilitate nighttime events. The town council acquired two of these towers at an earlier meeting, bringing the total number of town-owned portable light towers to six.

The portable light towers can be deployed to 23 feet tall, have a pure white LED light output of 188,000 lumens, and each is rated to light an area of 25,068 square feet. All six will brightly light a 3.5-acre area.

The lights are unshielded, facing outwards, not down, and the bulbs are of a stark white color associated with health risks for wildlife and humans.

The configuration and type of these lights violate Charlestown’s lighting ordinance. The ordinance that applies to any non-residential exterior lighting requires that lighting be fully shielded, focused downward, and not result in light trespass or light pollution.

The council discussed that the lights will violate the dark sky ordinance but decided that providing lights to the field behind Town Hall that would comply with the ordinance is more expensive and that the six light towers could be used in Ninigret Park to allow nighttime events in that park as well.

The ordinance that was passed in 2012 states that “all government-owned and operated properties and facilities are urged to immediately conform to the provisions of this ordinance.” Through the intervening 12 years, most of the town’s light fixtures have been converted to dark-sky-compliant lighting as past Town Councils sought to lead by example. New lighting fixtures for both commercial and town government facilities are required to conform to the ordinance.

The Town Council’s decision to violate the ordinance will make it more likely that commercial businesses throughout town will ignore the town’s 12-year effort to protect Charlestown’s beautiful dark skies.

The banner image is a photograph by Cliff Vanover of a portable light tower used during a past Rhythm and Roots Festival in Ninigret Park.