In the same way that sailors used to guide themselves according to the stars, a nighttime driver in Fairfax County can sometimes get the impression of driving through great pools of darkness in between two brightly lit gas stations that fire up the night sky like beacons for the passing motorist.
As the county gets increasingly built up, those gas stations creep closer and closer to residential areas and high rise buildings sprout where once was a vacant lot, flooding neighborhoods with light. To make sure that the amount of light pouring into residential neighborhoods at night doesn't get out of control, the Planning Commission has started reexamining the county's outdoor lighting standards for the first time since 1978. The objective, said Planning Commissioner Laurie Frost Wilson, is to make sure that local ordinances reflect the area's new density as well as changes in the lighting industry.
"We're long overdue for something," she said. "We've got a county that's already built out with lights that are under an outmoded standard."
UNDER THE CURRENT ordinance, light is capped at a certain intensity within 500 feet of residential districts. But that does not take glare into account. And glare is where the problem lies. A light that shines right into someone's face is going to be an inconvenience regardless of its intensity. So the county's Department of Planning and Zoning has proposed mandating cut-off fixtures, that direct light downwards and shields that concentrate light onto one specific area.
"We wouldn't permit a certain amount of light to go beyond the object that is being lit," said Jack Reale, a planning and zoning official.
The ordinance changes would also require businesses to put an opaque background behind lit signs they place near the street. Lights in parking garages would have to be dimmed 50 percent 30 minutes after the close of business. Neighborhood sports facilities would have to turn off their lights between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
But the plan would include exemptions for such things as lighting required by government or military buildings, lights used for emergency response and holiday lighting.
If facilities comply with the current lighting ordinance they would be grandfathered in under the new rules, said Wilson. They would not have to comply with the new standards until they changed their light fixtures. But those facilities that violate the rules as they stand today could be forced to upgrade their lighting systems.
"We'll probably start with the worst offenders," said Wilson, adding that gas stations have been some of the worst offenders.
"There's not going to be light police coming around to every residential homeowner in the county."
Some of the problems associated with lighting new buildings or buildings under construction have already arisen in the more densely populated areas of the county. Linda Smyth, planning commissioner for Providence district, said she recently reviewed an application for a multifamily project in Merrifield and noticed that a six-story parking garage was planned right next door. Smyth said she had also received a call complaining about the amount of construction lighting in Tysons Corner.
"These are the things that we're going to get into more and more," she said.
PEOPLE FAMILIAR with the proposal emphasize that the real problem is not how bright the lights are but the glare they give off when they are not properly directed. Frank Crandall, a member of the Environmental Quality Advisory Council, recalled when he was momentarily blinded by a streetlight while driving on Georgetown Pike and almost hit a deer as a result. The streetlight was not particularly bright but the light hit him right in the eyes.
"It's a genuine hazard," he said. "People don't appreciate just how much of a problem it does cause."
In commercial areas, Crandall said, some businesses make their lights brighter "in order to compete for attention."
"Gas stations on the edge of residential areas have a tendency to overlight and as a result it's a constant annoyance to neighborhoods."