Erie planners ask advisory council to back a dark‑sky ordinance, begin with city‑owned lights

City planning staff on Wednesday urged the Erie City Advisory Council to support a broad outdoor‑lighting, or “dark‑sky,” ordinance and to include subject matter experts on a subcommittee to help craft a local draft for City Council consideration.

Hannah Oleski, neighborhood resource coordinator in the Bureau of Planning and Zoning, and Cooper Moore, assistant planner, framed the proposal around four goals: improved safety and reduced glare, respect for residential neighborhoods and reduction of light trespass, energy and cost savings, and protection of migratory birds and other wildlife. They cited materials from the International Dark‑Sky Association and a Pittsburgh ordinance used as a model.

They asked the EAC to add subject matter experts to the dark‑sky subcommittee and to recommend that the Bureau be tasked to draft an ordinance. The presenters suggested starting with the approximately 700–800 streetlights the city owns, then expanding outreach and potential incentives for utility‑owned lights; they noted about 8,000 lights around the city are owned by the utility and therefore outside direct city control. Cooper Moore also noted that the city’s police fleet accounted for a large share of municipal gasoline use in a separate Penn State deliverable referenced during the meeting, as a potential area for related operational emissions reductions.

During a sustained Q&A, members pressed staff on cost projections, equity and prioritization of neighborhoods, potential grant sources and technical partnerships. Staff said they had contacted national and regional experts including Diane Tercek (Carnegie Mellon) and a Penn State Behrend planetarium expert to advise the effort and that consultants could be engaged later to estimate costs and implementation timelines.

Presenters cautioned the Council that an ordinance cannot unilaterally compel private utilities to replace fixtures because utilities and their equipment are governed by the state Public Utility Commission; however, an ordinance can require and set policy for city‑owned fixtures and strongly encourage partners and private property owners to follow modern, shielded, lower‑wattage standards.

The Council did not vote on a final recommendation at the meeting but agreed to receive the materials and confirmed the dark‑sky subcommittee and topic would remain active on future agendas. Next steps identified included adding subject matter experts to the subcommittee and circulating the presenters’ materials to members for follow‑up.