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Planning board advances residential lighting amendments, urges outreach before sending to aldermen
Summary
The Wrightsville Beach Planning Board reviewed proposed residential lighting changes — moving from wattage to lumen standards, capping decorative fixtures at 300 lumens, allowing motion-activated fixtures up to 700 lumens with a 10-minute shutoff, and recommending public outreach prior to referral to the Board of Aldermen.
The Wrightsville Beach Planning Board on an evening meeting reviewed proposed residential lighting ordinance changes and directed staff to refine the draft for a vote at a follow-up meeting before sending the packet to the Board of Aldermen.
Robert, planning staff, told the board the rewrite replaces wattage caps with lumen-based standards and aligns residential rules with previously discussed commercial language. "We increased the motion-activated allowance, but also regulated how long it should stay on — no more than 10 minutes after activation," Robert said, adding that fixtures should be properly aimed and shielded to minimize glare and trespass.
The proposal would permit up to 300 lumens per landscape or decorative fixture if the bulb is shielded so the light source is not visible from the public right of way. Motion-activated flood and security fixtures would be measured in lumens (a 700-lumen allowance was noted as an industry-standard equivalent to prior wattage allowances) and must extinguish 10 minutes after activation. The draft also calls for retaining existing fixture height caps and reiterates that unshielded high-intensity sources are prohibited except for permitted holiday lighting.
Board members spent considerable time discussing how to prevent sensors from triggering from the public right of way. One member summarized the intent as limiting activation to activity on private property: if a fixture is "triggered only by motion on private property," it is less likely to turn on for pedestrians on a sidewalk, the member said. Robert agreed and proposed explicit language to "eliminate light trespass" and to emphasize aiming and sensor placement in the text.
Members also debated color temperature: the draft recommends, rather than mandates, a maximum correlated color temperature of 3,000 Kelvin for most fixtures, with discussion about whether any replacement/sunset timeline should be short (90 days), moderate (180 days) or longer (up to two years) for any fixtures already out of compliance. The board did not set a final sunset period during the meeting.
Sue Bullock, representing the chamber in public comment, thanked the planning board for its multi-year work but cautioned against overly prescriptive rules. "If you try and lock that down too much more, you create your own challenges," she said, warning overly strict rules for existing fixtures could lead to legal challenges. She recommended limiting tight regulation to new construction while relying on education and modest remediation for existing homes.
Robert told the board staff plans to pair the ordinance with public outreach materials and inspection practices tied to certificates of occupancy so residents understand simple, low-cost fixes (frosted lenses, baffles, re-aiming) that will reduce violations. The board instructed staff to clean up the draft with the night's edits and return for a brief meeting next month; members said they expect to refer the item to the Board of Aldermen in the spring for consideration.
The Planning Board did not adopt the ordinance at this meeting; it directed staff to revise the text and return for final consideration before formal referral to the Board of Aldermen.
