The Dark Skies Subcommittee (DSC) is drafting language to update town rules on outdoor lighting in a measure that may come up for a Town Meeting vote in March 2026.
Section 13.5 of the zoning bylaw says that all permanent artificial outdoor lighting in new construction may consist only of fully shielded light fixtures, and that lights must have a color temperature value of 3000°K or lower. The bylaw was amended at Town Meeting in 2016 to include definitions for some of the terms.
“Dark skies” advocates have argued for years (including most recently in State of the Town presentations in 2024 and 2025) that artificial outdoor light at night keeps away wildlife (thus reducing their habitat), kills insects, and interferes with nocturnal breeding cycles and bird migration.
Lincoln’s zoning bylaw was initially amended to place limits on outdoor lighting in 2004, but advocates have tried to have the rules several times since then. An amendment proposed at Town Meeting in 2015 was hotly debated but ultimately went down to defeat by a vote of 161–133 (a two-thirds majority was required for passage). The group drafted zoning and general bylaw amendments and initially got on the warrant for Town Meeting using citizens’ petitions in 2025 but ultimately withdrew the items.
In the 20-plus years since the bylaw was first enacted, the Planning Board subcommittee says, new research has further demonstrated the environmental harm of excessive outdoor light at night, and lighting technology has advanced, with more color temperatures available in bulbs as well as wider availability of things like automatic timers, motion detectors, and dimmers.
The group would like to see changes including lowering the maximum color temperature to 2700°K, requiring that outdoor lights be dimmed or turned off after 9:00pm, and limiting the height and intensity of walkway lighting. They also hope to apply these changes to existing outdoor lighting, not just new construction — but that would require an amendment to the town’s general bylaw in addition to the zoning bylaw. In a presentation to the Planning Board on December 9, the DSC proposed that existing properties must comply within a certain amount of time after the amendment’s passage (five years for larger properties and town-owned buildings, or 10 years for single-family or two-family dwellings.
The DSC’s general strategy includes not just amending the zoning and/or general bylaw, but also conducting education and outreach to improve compliance and “identifying solutions” for major light generators such as streetlights, the school, and other town buildings, as well as larger properties such as the mall, The Commons in Lincoln, and Oriole Landing.
DSC member Buzz Constable said that a general bylaw approach has advantages: it would have greater reach and applicability, and it might actually be easier to win voter approval, since general bylaw amendments require only a simple majority vs. the two-thirds required for zoning bylaw changes. (The general bylaw measure restricting use of gas-powered leaf blowers squeaked by in 2019 in a 112–106 vote.)
However, whenever you make a new rule, “there’s an obligation to enforce it,” and the building inspector has limited time for such activity, Constable acknowledged.
Though it took no action at its Dec. 9 meeting, the Planning Board was generally lukewarm about the whole idea. “There are so many important things this town has to do… there are priorities in the town,” board co-chair Lynn DeLisi said.
“I’d like to see a higher level of engagement” using a town-wide survey and/or a public forum sponsored by the full board to hear from more residents, “not just people who showed up for State of the Town,” member Susan Hall Mygatt said.
“It’s a question of how much you can do with the resources you have,” board co-chair Gary Taylor said. “We need to divide this thing into three or four steps rather than just trying to do a scattershot [approach].”
Taylor and board member Rob Ahlert suggested that the Dark Skies group start by thinking about how to deal with the biggest producers of outdoor lighting — town streetlights and larger properties such as the mall, The Commons in Lincoln, the school, etc., rather than pushing for more sweeping changes that would affect individual homeowners.
“If you focus on big-ticket items, everyone’s going to rally around that,” Ahlert said.
