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Deschutes County to hold public hearing on simplified dark-sky code; planning commission recommended shorter compliance window and optional certification
Summary
County planners outlined proposed 1994-code modernizations to limit light trespass, add definitions (including string lights), streamline exemptions and set holiday-lighting dates; the planning commission recommended a three-year compliance window and suggested pursuing International Dark Sky certification as a future goal.
Tanya Salzman, senior planner with Community Development and Resources (CDD), briefed the board Monday on proposed text amendments to Deschutes County's dark-skies standards ahead of a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 27.
Salzman said the project's aim is to simplify and modernize the county's 1994 lighting regulations so they are easier for residents and code enforcement to use. Key proposed changes include consolidated and updated definitions (adding terms such as "downcast," "light trespass" and "string lights"), and streamlined regulatory language that emphasizes three primary requirements for nonexempt fixtures: lights must be downcast, fully shielded and not cause light trespass.
On exemptions and special cases, staff proposed fixed holiday-lighting dates (Dec. 1'Jan. 15) with an additional 14 cumulative days in the calendar year for other events. Salzman said the draft acknowledges string lights and provides guardrails for them while expressly preserving holiday lighting in specified windows.
The planning commission held a hearing in July, left the record open briefly and deliberated later in the month. Salzman said the planning commission recommended approval with two notable recommendations: shortening the nonconformance compliance period from five years (in the draft) to three years, and that the county explore pursuing International Dark Sky Places certification within five years. She said representatives of Dark Sky Oregon and other stakeholders have submitted comment and technical requirements for certification, and staff has not yet recommended whether to adopt certification-level numeric standards (for example, color temperature and lumen/brightness thresholds) as part of this adoption.
Salzman told the board that staff's approach leans toward simpler, visually enforceable standards (for example, prohibiting fixtures that are visible from an offset) rather than measurement-heavy thresholds, because the latter are more complicated to administer and enforce. She said the board could adopt simplified amendments now and pursue a separate process later if commissioners decide to seek certification and the more technical requirements that would entail.
The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday; staff said they had received about 15 additional pieces of testimony for the board process and would post those to the project website. Planning materials and the record are available through the project page, staff said.
Items for deliberation at the public hearing will include the compliance timeline, specific holiday-event allowance language and whether the county should pursue certification and, if so, the regulatory changes that pursuit would require.
