Residents urge dark‑sky rules; one speaker pushes to limit fee‑in‑lieu parking buyouts

At the start of the Module 4 workshop several members of the public spoke for the record about lighting and parking policy. Mike Hendris, co‑chair of Dark Skies Gorge, thanked the commission for including an outdoor‑lighting section and urged it adopt strong protections for Hood River’s night skies. "It's great that module 4 has a section called outdoor lighting," Hendris said, noting the group has roughly 140 members and is ready to work with staff on details.

Later in the public comment period Chris Robuck criticized the city’s current fee‑in‑lieu of parking approach, saying developers can “write a check for all of those required spaces” and then not deliver the physical parking. He asked the commission either to remove the fee‑in‑lieu option or require buildings to provide a high proportion of required stalls (for example, 90 percent) rather than allowing full buyouts.

Commissioners and staff acknowledged both concerns. Staff said Module 4 proposes clearer, enforceable outdoor‑lighting requirements for commercial, industrial, multi‑unit and mixed‑use projects and recommended shielding and downward‑directed fixtures, consistent with dark‑sky practices. On parking, staff noted fee‑in‑lieu remains a tool — particularly for the historic downtown and waterfront where site constraints limit on‑site parking — but commissioners signaled they wanted to review limits on full buyouts and consider alternatives that retain more on‑site spaces where feasible.

No formal policy changes were voted; staff will incorporate these public comments into the consolidated code draft and present the feedback to City Council in the next week.