Commission votes to hold off making a recommendation on lighting code

By Garry Duffy
Green Valley News

TUCSON—Added protections for astronomical observatories against encroaching light pollution from development were put on hold for 90 days by the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday. 

Commission members voted unanimously to hold off making a recommendation on a revamped lighting code to the Board of Supervisors, citing concerns that a subcommittee that reviewed the existing standards and suggested changes was overly influenced by Southern Arizona’s astronomy industry.

“I have not heard from anyone who is in favor of this new ordinance,” Dennis Coon, an electrical engineer whose business would be affected by any changes in outdoor lighting regulations, told the commission.

Coon said the new regulations as proposed by the subcommittee would severely restrict both the type and amount of outdoor lighting that would be allowed in the jurisdictions covered by the ordinance—unincorporated Pima County, Tucson and Marana.

The subcommittee was weighted in favor of the area’s professional astronomy industry and did not have adequate input from other areas of business when the recommendations were drawn up, Cooms said.

Commission Chairman Bill Clark agreed with Cooms that the proposed changes to the lighting code should be put on hold. Clark added that another committee should be formed to include a broader membership range.

“It’s apparent that we have not arrived at what the community would like—a consensus,” Clark said.

That the committee was biased in favor of the most stringent regulations to protect the astronomy industry was challenged by Don Davis, vice chairman of the Outdoor Lighting Code Committee.

“We had a unanimous vote,” Davis said after the commission decision to delay action on the recommended changes. 

“Where is the lack of consensus?”

Davis, an astronomer at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, said the nine-member subcommittee had two representatives from the astronomy community. The remainder were from other businesses that would be affected by changes in outdoor lighting regulations.

The subcommittee was comprised of two astronomers, a representative of Tucson Electric Power Co., a sign company, an electrical engineer, an engineering consultant, a licensed contractor, and an unaffiliated public representative.  A seat for a building engineer was vacant.

Astronomers say light pollution from development hampers astronomical research by making nighttime skies less dark, limiting the quality of work that can be done. 

The county already has an outdoor lighting code, adopted in 1974. It restricts the kinds of lighting that can be used on new developments and infrastructure. For the most part, the ordinance bans fixtures that allow light to leak upwards into the night sky.

Officials at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins have been following the matter closely.

The Smithsonian Institution operates the observatory, which is about to see completion of a new $20 million, 21-foot-diameter reflector telescope that will be one of the world’s largest.

Smithsonian officials this year opposed plans by Fairfield Homes to develop the Canoa Ranch, a 6,000-acre property that lies at the foot of Mount Hopkins. 

Fairfield wanted to build over 6,100 homes and develop up to 600 acres of commercial as part of the Canoa Ranch Specific Plan. That plan was rejected by the Board of Supervisors last Jan. 14.

After the commission decision to postpone action on the subcommittee’s recommended outdoor lighting code amendments, a Smithsonian official was philosophical.

“It’s been two years getting to this point,” Dan Brocious of the Whipple Observatory said. “We want a workable code that the entire community can work with.”