Editor’s note: This letter concerns one of the warrant articles to be voted on at Lincoln’s Annual Town Meeting on March 28. A preliminary list of warrant articles can be found on this Town of Lincoln webpage. The Board of Selectmen is scheduled to sign the warrant on February 25.
To the editor:
The Planning Board has long considered issues of exterior lighting and light pollution, primarily through the site plan review process. Although the widespread availability and affordability of energy-efficient LED and compact fluorescent lighting benefits the global environment, these new technologies may also be potentially detrimental to our immediate environment here in Lincoln. The Planning Board is proposing changes to the Lighting Section of the Zoning Bylaw to insure that we preserve the rural character and sensitivity to conservation values that are Lincoln’s tradition, while still allowing for illumination that maintains or improves safety and energy efficiency. Please note that our proposal only regulates newly installed lighting. Existing lighting is grandfathered.
If you look up into the sky on a moonless night, you will see thousands and thousands of stars, stars that have inspired wonder and beauty through the millennia of human history—or you would see thousands of stars if they were not drowned out by light pollution. It is not only our ability to see the night sky that is lost with excess outdoor lighting. Insects, nocturnal animals and migrating birds are all confused or disoriented by artificial light. The emergence of LEDs and their blue-rich white outdoor lighting has aggravated these issues. Blue-rich white light mimics the spectrum of daylight disrupting circadian rhythms in both people and animals.
The eye has limited ability to rapidly adjust between one lighting level and another, and the adjustment period becomes even longer as we age. As we move from the interior to the exterior after dark we need light for safety that is minimally disruptive to the environment and wildlife that Lincoln has spent so much time and treasure protecting.
The proposed zoning changes apply only to newly installed light fixtures and are summarized below:
- All exterior light fixtures must be fully shielded so they neither project nor leak light upwards towards the sky.
- All lights shall have Color Corrected Temperature (CCT) of 3000K or below. The CCT describes the color of the light. A CCT of 3000K or below is a “warm white” light, typical of traditional incandescent bulbs. The CCT is typically specified on the package for LED and compact fluorescent bulbs.
- Each fixture shall be limited to a maximum of 900 lumens, comparable to the output of a traditional 60-watt incandescent bulb. Lumens are a measure of the intensity of light output. A consistent level of lighting with multiple fixtures at a lower intensity is more effective for human vision and creates less light pollution.
We hope you will support Article 44 at Town Meeting and welcome your input.
Sincerely,
Margaret Olson for the Lincoln Planning Board
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The issue of traditional style lights that are fully shielded is one that the planning board has been dealing with over the past couple of years as buildings come up for site plan review. The majority of new construction in Lincoln is traditional in style.
There are colonial and other traditional style lights available that are fully shielded. Modern bulbs are much smaller than traditional bulbs and there are fixtures with the bulb snugged entirely up under the top section of the light. So yes, if your colonial style light fixture fails you will be able to replace it with a new colonial style light fixture.
The enforcement of zoning regulations is through the building inspector. Normally installing a new light requires an electrical permit. So no, the police will not come to your door!
Just as a reminder – existing lights are grandfathered.
Article 44 will make every outdoor light in town non-conforming, meaning that if your beautiful colonial style porch or pole fixture that projects light up or to the side is damaged you cannot replace it with another colonial style light. Nor will this article halt the red glow of Waltham and Boston that we see to the east at night, nor the glow of Worcester that we see to the west.
How will this be enforced? Will the police come to your door and order you to turn off your outdoor lights? Will we be required to install blackout shades to prevent interior light from leaking into the night sky?
Fossil fuel. Leaf blowers. Now this. Must Lincoln solve ALL the world’s problems?
I will certainly support the PB on article 44. I hope the PB is going to continue to pay careful attention to the new addition to the First Parish Church and how it will affect the center of Lincoln and the neighborhood. There are still those of us who feel that our concerns have not been paid attention to by the boards and are counting on the PB to continue to demand that the rules of the town be followed.
thank you
Nancy Bergen