1 week Ago By Kelsi Thorud
Palo Alto City Councilman Greer Stone is one of the officials spearheading a new Dark Sky ordinance for the city. "Really the idea around dark skies is trying to reclaim nighttime for those who are inhabiting in a community," said Stone. The ordinance looks to lessen the amount of light pollution in the city at night by implementing new regulations on when outdoor lighting can be on and how bright it can be.
"We've lowered essentially the temperature that lights can be down to 2700 Kelvin which really brings outdoor lighting down to more of that amber lighting rather than that really bright, just that bright LED type of lighting that we've become so used to. We've established a curfew in the evening, so at midnight essentially, outdoor lighting that is not being really used needs to be extinguished," said Stone. Councilman Stone said lowering the level of light at night will not only make the sky prettier for residents, he said it will also have a significant impact on people's health.
"There are a lot of negative health impacts of not having dark skies and being overstimulated in the evenings. From increased dementia and cancer risks to worse youth mental health issues and, of course, disruptions of circadian rhythms," said Stone. But not everyone is as on board with the proposed ordinance as Councilman Stone.
During Monday night's council meeting several people voiced concerns over safety. "On Edgewood, we need the ability to light our yard,s including the fencing and keep the lights on. Lighting is a primary and key deterrent for crime as we all know, and it allows our security cameras to do their job," said one person.
Councilman Stone said he understands safety is a top priority. He's working now to update the ordinance to include exemptions for safety. "We directed staff to be able to make an exception for areas that have high crime because I do think public safety is of course is the most important piece of this and we don't want to risk that," said Stone.
Overall, though, Councilman Stone believes the ordinance could be a huge benefit to the community. His hope is that not only will Palo Alto pass it but that cities across the Bay will pass versions of their own. "We all know what it feels like to be able to escape the Bay Area for a few nights and go to the mountains and look up into the sky and be able to see the stars and how healing that is for the soul, how great would it be one day for us to be able to look up and also see the skies right here in the middle of the Bay Area," said Stone.
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