Trustees ease dark‑sky rules, add stairway exemption in outdoor lighting code

Staff presented an ordinance (20‑26‑05) to amend Silverton’s outdoor lighting standards in response to business and community feedback. Proposed changes included allowing partially shielded downward lighting rather than a strict fully‑shielded requirement, exempting downtown mixed‑use districts from a strict shutoff rule, removing some lumen limits and adding an exemption for marquee lighting such as hotel signs.

Planning commissioners recommended striking ambiguous language that would require "minimum necessary to provide safety and functionality" and suggested retaining manageable lumen limits for signs and preserving pathway/stairway exemptions. After substantial discussion about enforcement and business impacts, trustees approved the ordinance while incorporating the planning commission’s recommendations to remove the ambiguous safety language and to extend pathway exemptions to stairways.

Staff noted the amendments reflected board direction to step away from pursuing formal dark‑sky certification while maintaining practical lighting standards for safety and commerce.