During the Grand Lake Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 23, Ordinance Number 07-2024 passed 6-1, with one trustee absent, which amended the town’s code and adopted a lighting management plan. The ordinance has guidelines and restrictions that are intended to keep light pollution down, and is necessary for receiving an International Dark Sky Place certification.

Community Development Director Kim White presented the ordinance to trustees and explained the changes. Grand Lake town staff have been working with DarkSky International to create light management guidelines that protect the town’s nighttime views.

White explained that Grand Lake already has some previous lighting regulations but the new ordinance “really spells out” the details on lumens allowed per fixture, acceptable light temperatures and timing of business lighting.

“The goals for the dark sky, is that in five years, all the town-owned lighting will be fully in compliance, if it isn’t already,” White said.

She explained that while most town lighting already meets these guidelines, the brightness of some streetlights need to be reduced.

“The town is working with Mountain Parks electric to make sure the lighting does get dimmed a little, while still being safe and lighting where it needs to be lit,” White said.

One trustee asked how the town would maintain its certification. White explained that the town will be collecting night sky light readings on a quarterly basis and submitting them to the DarkSky International to continue being certified as an International Dark Sky Place.

Another trustee asked how being certified as a Dark Sky Community would benefit the town and White explained that the certification will bring tourists. A Dark Sky Community is a type of International Dark Sky Place certification that includes cities or towns with quality outdoor lighting ordinances.

“Tourism mostly. It’s just a separate avenue to put us on a map that international people go, ‘Oh you know what, Grand Lake is another place we can go, let’s go there,'” White said.

If Grand Lake achieves its certification, White said that one of the results could be new astro-tourism businesses popping up.

“People are driving great distances to see cool events such as the aurora borealis, comets or the Milky Way,” White said.

White also shared that for many Grand Lake residents, the dark skies are a boon.

“In general, when I bring up the dark sky with the public, they share stories of how they dislike their neighbor’s lighting shining onto their property. They like to look up and see the Milky Way, and that is why they live up here,” White said. “They really appreciate that Grand Lake is trying to get this initiative here.”

The plan writes that outdoor lighting is encouraged to be turned off when nobody is present to use the light.

Regarding residents and commercial lighting, the guidelines tell residents to light only as you need and light only when you need it. All outdoor lights must be fully shielded and focused downward, while all residential outside porch lighting should be either turned off at night or placed on a motion sensor to minimize community ambient lighting.

“If someone wants to see if they are on the right track with their lights, they can ask themselves, is this light is useful, is it targeted to exactly where you need it and downward-facing, is it low-level, is it controlled (on a timer or other device) and is it warm-colored?” White said.

All existing outdoor lighting will strive to conform within 10 years of enactment of the lighting plan, while all new buildings built in Grand Lake will need to adhere by the requirements. Any new public lighting will have a lumen cap of 6,000 lumens per lamp. Lumens are a measurement of light, the higher the lumens the brighter the light.

The plan also explicitly bans light trespassing, which refers to measurable light extending beyond the boundary of its intended usage area. Light trespassing typically refers to outdoor lighting, but light spilling outdoors through windows or other translucent surfaces also contribute to light trespass.

The plan writes that privately owned exterior lighting that is not adaptively controlled shall be extinguished by 10 p.m. or within one hour of the end of normal business hours, whichever occurs later. Exterior lighting with adaptive controls shall reduce lighting to 25% or less of the total outdoor light output allowed by 10 p.m. or within one hour of the end of normal business hours, whichever occurs later. Curfew exceptions can be made by the town planner in the case of mitigating safety hazards.

“The other goal is that the private lighting and businesses come into voluntary compliance within 10 years, if not sooner. No new structures and no replacement fixtures will be allowed to be installed unless they meet the dark sky regulations in the code,” White said.

The guidelines also require that a Coalition for the Stars made up of town leaders, dark sky advocates, local clubs, residents and others be maintained.

White explained that the town still has some work to do regarding official dark sky certification, but there will be updates in 2025.

Auditing the town’s lights

White and volunteers walked the streets of Grand Lake to examine light fixtures on town-owned buildings or property and recorded information about each light in late September/early October.

Volunteers filed information regarding town lights and then took photos of the light fixtures.

What does this mean for holiday lighting?

While discussing the ordinance with trustees, Mayor Steve Kudron suggested that feedback should be gathered from residents first.

In the final plan, there are exemptions in place, including holiday lights. Decorative holiday lighting/continuous string lighting and low-intensity string lights measuring 50 lumens per linear foot will not be affected by the plan’s guidelines. Flashing holiday lights are prohibited on nonresidential properties.

Residents can still enjoy holiday lighting so long as they meet the previous requirements and total holiday outdoor light output does not exceed 6,000 lumens.

The work being done for Grand Lake’s dark skies falls in line with the town’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan for the town, which was created using feedback from its citizens. One recurring message from residents was that they wanted dark skies in Grand Lake.