Palo Alto’s draft Dark Sky ordinance is tentatively set to be reviewed by the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission on August 28th.
We need your support in asking for two main improvements to the Dark Sky Ordinance.
- Reduce the maximum allowed color temperature to 2,700 Kelvin. This makes the lighting a redder hue, which makes it far less damaging to humans and wildlife. Click here to learn more about how higher Kelvin color temperatures can negatively impact our health.
- Add a provision for existing lighting fixtures to comply with the ordinance. Many fixtures can easily be modified (through software or simply angling the fixture), and should comply with the ordinance if they can. Otherwise existing lights will continue to pollute our skies and affect our health. For lights that cannot be immediately changed, they would be allowed a grace period to come into compliance with an opportunity to file for an extension in cases of hardship.
Here’s what you can do.
- Email the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission Planning.Commission@CityofPaloAlto.org and tell them,
- that you support a maximum color temperature of 2,700 Kelvin instead of 3,000 Kelvin,
- that you support bringing existing lighting fixtures into compliance with the ordinance, and
- tell them about any personal experiences you have had with light pollution, or share your love for the night sky!
Want more information? Here is what you can do.
Watch our Conservation Coordinator Dashiell Leeds’ presentation to the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission, explaining the science behind these proposed changes and why they are important to humans and wildlife alike.
Review our fact sheet which explains our two main requested improvements, as well as four other improvements that we are asking for. This fact sheet contains excerpts from DarkSky International’s State of the Science 2024 Report.
Email Dashiell.Leeds@SierraClub.org with any questions or comments. If you plan to give a public comment we would love to hear from you!