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Planning commission reviews draft exterior‑lighting ordinance; limits on marine lights and searchlights proposed
Summary
Planning commissioners reviewed a draft exterior‑lighting code adapted from a Yachats model ordinance, discussed lumen limits, festoon/string lights, holiday displays and a prohibition on new marine floodlighting; staff will refine language and return a final draft for recommendation to council.
Depot Bay — The Planning Commission on Aug. 13 reviewed a draft exterior‑lighting code intended to reduce light trespass, protect marine resources and give residents clear standards for residential and commercial fixtures.
The draft, adapted from a Yachats model ordinance and updated for Depot Bay conditions, sets numerical limits for exterior fixtures and total property lighting, requires down‑directed and shielded fixtures, and requires lighting plans for new land‑use applications. Staff said the standards aim to reduce nuisance glare without undermining safety or reasonable decorative lighting.
Commissioners discussed key provisions and local exceptions. The draft caps individual fixture output for single‑family residences (the memo uses 850 lumens as an example for maximum per‑fixture output) and includes a property‑level cap to limit cumulative light. The ordinance includes a definition of “marine lighting” and proposes prohibiting new floodlighting directed at the ocean and coastal tide pools — a provision commissioners said is meant to stop new high‑intensity fixtures that illuminate surf and marine habitat overnight.
Commissioners debated temporary and decorative lighting. Several members said holiday and festival displays should remain allowed, but the draft would prohibit continuous high‑intensity searchlights and advertising beams projected across the shoreline. The commission also discussed festoon or string lighting common on porches and in gardens: staff will clarify whether multi‑luminaire strings count as a single fixture or as multiple light sources for the lumen cap, and whether low‑output solar decorative lights should be treated as temporary or permanent fixtures.
On compliance, the draft initially included a clause that publicly and privately owned lighting would be brought into compliance within five years. Several commissioners recommended removing a hard five‑year deadline so that preexisting fixtures would be transitioned when they are replaced or fail, rather than requiring immediate retrofits. Staff confirmed that replacements or modifications to nonconforming fixtures would need to meet the new standards at the time of replacement.
Enforcement would be complaint driven and handled by city staff; building‑permit electrical inspections would not substitute for the land‑use standards. The draft requires lighting plans as part of substantial new construction or land‑use applications so staff can confirm proposed lighting meets the code. Commissioners asked staff to prepare public‑facing guidance (examples and lumen comparisons) and to refine language on festoon lights, holiday displays and permitted temporary event lighting.
Next steps: staff will incorporate suggested edits — clarifying the treatment of string/festoon lights, removing the five‑year retrofit deadline for most private fixtures, and tightening the marine‑lighting prohibition — and circulate a revised draft before the Planning Commission forwards a recommendation to city council. A public hearing and council decision would follow the text‑amendment process.
No ordinance was adopted at the work session.
