Yamhill council advances exterior lighting ordinance to second reading after public hearing

The Yamhill City Council on March 12 opened a public hearing on Ordinance 0544, a proposal to add Chapter 10.66 (exterior lighting standards) to the city development code, heard public comment and technical questions, and approved the ordinance for a first reading with a required second reading scheduled for April 9.

The ordinance would apply to nonresidential properties in the city and includes provisions on lighting curfews, canopy and parking-lot lighting, color-temperature limits and maximum brightness. During public comment, residents raised concerns about security lighting at Beulah Park and high-intensity lights at a newly constructed gas station, calling them visually intrusive for nearby properties.

Supporters at the hearing said the proposed standards were intended to reduce light trespass and glare while preserving security lighting when necessary. City staff and members of the public noted the draft sets a color-temperature cap of 3,000 kelvins and a per-lamp limit of 1,500 lumens; the draft also includes a six-month compliance period that the council earlier signaled might be lengthened.

Council members asked staff for clarifications about how measurements would be taken and who would bear monitoring costs. Staff explained that compliance checks require instrument readings, which the city would obtain through contracted electricians when disputes arise, and that such contracted checks would be a cost to the city unless otherwise arranged. Council and residents asked where the lumen and kelvin readings are measured — sidewalk, curb or center of road — and staff said measurements are made at multiple points including the sidewalk centered on the fixture and adjacent points.

After the public comment and Q&A, a council member moved to approve Ordinance 0544 based on the staff report and planning commission recommendations; the motion was seconded and the council approved the ordinance for first reading. By rule the ordinance must be read a second time; the council set the second reading for April 9 and concluded that, because the ordinance had been available to the public at least one week before the meeting, it did not need to be re-noticed.

The council discussed several implementation issues that staff said would be included in next steps, including (1) whether ODOT or PGE controls some street lights and thus whether the city could mandate wattage changes for those fixtures, (2) how to treat 24-hour operations as exceptions to curfews, and (3) budgeting for enforcement and contracted measurements. The draft ordinance and staff report are posted on the city's website.

Council indicated they would revisit the compliance timeline and enforcement details before the second reading and asked staff to prepare clearer measurement guidance and cost estimates for any necessary contracted inspections.

If adopted after the second reading, the ordinance will create a new chapter in the development code with standards that staff said aim to reduce light pollution while allowing necessary security lighting.