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Council debates dark‑skies policy after slide shows McDowell road is exempted; staff directed to study ordinance
Summary
Transportation staff said a 2017 change to the city's dark‑skies language made McDowell Road part of the protected area, meaning street lights are not required along the McDowell frontage for the new Carmelo development; council members asked staff to study modifications to the dark‑skies ordinance and return with analysis.
Mesa council members and transportation staff debated whether the city’s dark‑skies policy should continue to exempt McDowell Road from street lighting after a new slide in a development presentation showed the roadway is now included in the ordinance.
Eric Cadarian, Assistant Transportation Director, told the council the current ordinance — as amended in 2017 — includes McDowell Road within the dark‑skies area by parenthetical language and that, because that section of McDowell is a county road, the city will not require streetlights along the McDowell frontage for the Carmelo development. Cadarian said Hawes Road, south of McDowell and designated an arterial, will include street lights at a reduced overnight level and that the development’s frontage on Hawes will be lit on the side where Carmelo is being built.
Council members pressed staff on whether the policy still made sense in the face of new development. Council Member Go Forth asked whether neighborhoods get a say; Council Member Pillsbury asked whether exceptions are possible. A city attorney told the council that the lighting rules are in city code and that a legislative act in 2017 clarified the boundary; “it says will not have street lights,” the attorney said referring to the code language.
Several council members expressed an interest in re‑examining the dark‑skies area rather than granting one‑off exceptions. Council Member Brady asked staff to prepare an analysis to consider whether the ordinance should be expanded or modified and to return with findings before the street‑light construction proceeds; staff said construction and street‑light energizing are typically late in a subdivision buildout and that code changes would have to be completed prior to street‑light installation to affect the developer’s obligations.
Outcome: council members expressed consensus to direct transportation staff to study potential modifications to the dark‑skies ordinance and return with an analysis for council consideration. No formal vote was taken on Jan. 30.
