Dark Skies

[San_Andreas_Fault]

The night sky with all its stars, planets and mystery are infinitely important to us.
Sadly, we can no longer look up and see the same sky our grandparents saw.


SB County Dark Sky Ordinance - Petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/PreserveDarkSkiesSBCty/

[Wrightwood]

Thursday morning at the San Bernardino County Planning Commission, the Dark Sky Ordinance was passed unanimously with no changes!  It now goes to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on October 7th.

Here's a full copy of the proposed Dark Sky Ordinance:

ftp://http://www.wrightwoodcalif.com/forumimg/SBCoOutdoorLighting.doc

[Mountain_Witch]

Oh I surely hope they pass it all the way.

It's really sad to see the stars slowly getting washed away out of the night sky by so much unessesary light polution.

Not to mention I'm really getting tired of putting up with light invading into my home at night through my blinds from neighbors who love 100 watt porch lights that they leave on all night long. The only plus about that has been I have no need for night lights in my home. The sad thing is..I can't star watch in my backyard anymore.

[RobertW]

[KC]

They can't enforce it yet.

It now goes to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on October 7th.

I hope it passes and people start paying attention to the nuisance they cause with lights shining all over other peoples yards. There's a church camp in town that needs to make some modifications. When I walk by there at night it amazing on how many lights are always on. I don't understand how it can be an Outdoor school with all that light pollution.

[jcrice]

[DudleyDoRight]

Yes, but JCrice, as a pilot, you might appreciate the value of the landing strip my neighbors operate.
Fortunately, our master bedroom is on the opposite side of the house  from Wrightwood Municipal Airport.
The Dud

[tiltronix]

Politicians make laws that are not enforced!!  How many drivers of cars on I-15 speed?  Do you drive 25 mph through neighborhoods??

[Wrightwood]

Please keep topic to SB County Dark Sky Ordinance  

[RobertW]

This pictures is from 1994 - 1995.  Can you imagine how much worse the light polution is now?



Of course Blackouts Are GREAT for getting rid of the light!

Before the East Coast Blackout:



During the East- Coast Blackout:

Pictures courtesty of NASA

[Wrightwood]

The Sun Newspaper ran an article this morning with current information about the proposed ordinance:

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1619428,00.html

[Wrightwood]

[Wrightwood]

The new Dark Sky Ordinance takes effect Oct 23, 2003 for Mountain & Desert areas of SB County.

Here's full copies of the new ordinance:

MS Word file: (requires MS Word on your computer)
http://www.wrightwoodcalif.com/darksky/darkskyord.doc

Adobe Acrobat file: (requires Free Acrobat Reader on your computer)
http://www.wrightwoodcalif.com/darksky/darkskyord.pdf

[jcrice]

Does this mean that the WW Country club will be required to turn off some of their lights when the law is approved? Now how about doing something about DOGS that bark all night and all day. Yes I have two dogs and I keep them quite and in at night. Barking is only allowed after 9am untill around 7pm.  Lets get back to the dark and quite Wrightwood that I remember when I moved up here some 24 years ago.  While I am at it Spanky go home and stay there!!!

[Big_Daddy]

Sure it sounds great and you all are correct, we should be able to look up and see all the stars, but, what happens when all the lights are out?  People are thieves!  You turn off all the lights and all you're going to get is more and more theft.  I haven't read the ordinance but I hope there is a compromise, maybe something to the effect of only motion lights can be used, as to not leave the lights on all night, or maybe make it so you can only use 40 watt or something.  I highly doubt anybody does it maliciously but don't say "No outside lights" that would be as intrusive as every house having a 100 watt light on all night every night.

[macentyre]

I'm sorry and you guys might think I'm an idiot and that's perfectly ok with me,  

but....I think that this is the most rediculous thing I have ever heard of. I agree with Big_Daddy....you guys are just asking for theft....you've already had problems with this in wrightwood have you not?...then why would you get something as stupid as this passed just so you can see another two stars in the sky?...drive up to Inspiration Point for stars for God's sake.

I think your going to be really dissapointed with the results...I mean who is going to really do this?..I mean come on people...I sure as heck aren't....I have too many bears and coyotes at my house and without sufficient lighting around my house at night we have been pretty suprised by wildlife that roams around here in the evening hours.

Just this last Sunday we woke up to our neighbor screaming "NO", "NO", "NO", "NOT MY BABIES" at coyotes that came into her yard and killed her two dogs and took them away right infront of her (we heard the whole thing at around 3am!)....more light would mean more awareness of what is around your house at night and others wouldn't it?

I just don't get it. I totally understand that you people want quite communities and not someone's 1500 watt halogen lights piercing into your homes at night, but what about the smaller lights that now we'll have to take down because of this? All you have to do is get some nuts and go over there and ask them to put some kind of shielding on it if it bothers you that much.

And if your scared to do it then call the sheriff. In my opinion...you just made things worse for yourselves...and us over in the other mountains of San Berdoo.

My two cents.

Mac

[naturalist]

...I think that this is the most rediculous thing I have ever heard of. I agree with Big_Daddy....you guys are just asking for theft...

There are many types of lighting fixtures that will protect your home and also waste less energy (the light is focused where you want it, not up at the sky).  These are great for satisfying both home security and keeping our night skies dark.  Here is a link: http://www.darksky.org/fixtures/fixtures.html

[Wrightwood]

naturalist,
Good website!

[Melian]

I think maybe some people got different impressions of the ordinance. They are not requiring that all lights be turned off, just toned down to reduce the light pollution. There are quite a few outdoor lights that provide decent illumination without lighting up the neighborhood. We are not asking for complete dark, just control the lighting out there so it is not obnoxious.

As for the thefts, while lighting does deter them somewhat, I don't think it is as effective as some people think. I've known cars to be stolen in broad daylight or broken into in brightly lit parking areas. Thieves will be thieves and some are very determined.

Motion lights can be more of a nuisance than bright lights, especially in the mountains. When the wind picks up, the trees set off the light and you get a constant on/off effect that is more annoying than a constantly on light.

As for wildlife, well, we live in the mountains. What do you expect? I've seen coyotes running around in broad daylight just across the street. Don't think that lights will help there.

I agree that recreational facilities should shut off their lights at 11:00. Last I knew, no one in Wrightwood plays tennis at 2:00am. Besides which, those lights are expensive to run and the facilities should shut them off for monetary reasons anyway.

[Wrightwood]

Bump