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Staff recommends technical updates to beach lighting to better protect sea turtles
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Summary
City planner told a public forum the city will update local marine-turtle lighting standards — including adopting longer-wavelength standards, spectrometric testing, and full-cutoff fixtures — and that staff will take the lighting ordinance to the Beach Stewardship Committee in August.
City planning staff told an informal community forum that the city's marine-turtle lighting standards need technical updates and that those updates will be brought to the Beach Stewardship Committee for review. Brandon Berry, a city planner, said the city's existing ordinance is 18 years old and is based on an older state model lighting ordinance; staff wants to add technical standards that reflect more recent research.
Berry said a recent study (published at the state level) indicates municipalities should aim for about 30% visible light transmittance for windows/fixtures to reduce impacts on turtles; the city had previously used a 45% transmittance standard in earlier model language. He said staff is considering adopting long-wavelength bulb standards, adding spectrometric testing for new lighting that is outside the state's model categories, and requiring full-cutoff fixtures and shields on exterior lights.
"We fit scored fairly well for language and for implementation. We actually do quite a bit more now than we did back in '22," Brandon Berry said when describing prior evaluations of the city's ordinance. He added that the framework in place is sound but needs updated technical standards to reflect new science. Staff said they will consult state partners including the Sea Turtle Conservancy and the Fish and Wildlife Commission as they refine proposed text.
Residents raised practical concerns about how darker lighting would affect people's views from residences and hotels and asked for examples and visual materials; staff said the Sea Turtle Conservancy and recent studies provide examples and that staff can provide photos and compliant/noncompliant examples for the public to review. Staff also noted that the lighting standards apply to any light visible from the beach and that the typical protections include three criteria: long wavelength, shielding (full cutoff), and limiting visibility from the beach.
Ending: Staff said the lighting updates are largely technical and consistent with state conservation guidance and will be presented to the Beach Stewardship Committee in August for further public review.
