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Home My WebLink About034-25 (ProposedOrdAmendmentChapter165Zoning(OutdoorLightingStandards)) RESOLUTION Action: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: September 10,2025 Adopted DIRECTING THE PLANNING COMMISSION TO HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING CHAPTER 165,ZONING ORDINANCE ARTICLE II SUPPLEMENTARY USE REGULATIONS; PARKING; BUFFERS; AND REGULATIONS FOR SPECIFIC USES PART 201—SUPPLEMENTARY USE REGULATIONS §165-201.07 OUTDOOR LIGHTING STANDARDS WHEREAS, a proposal to amend Chapter 165—Zoning Ordinance to amend supplementary use regulations for outdoor lighting contained in §165-201.07 to: modernize outdoor lighting standards, review illumination levels, review photometric plan requirements and incorporate LED lighting standards; and WHEREAS,the amendment will be referred to the Development Review and Regulations Committee(DRRC) for review at their next regular meeting; and WHEREAS,the Board of Supervisors discussed the proposed changes on September 10,2025; and WHEREAS,the Frederick County Board of Supervisors finds it appropriate in public necessity,convenience, general welfare,and good zoning practice to direct the Frederick County Planning Commission to hold a public hearing regarding an amendment to Chapter 165; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT REQUESTED by the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, that in the interest of public health, safety, general welfare, and good zoning practice, the Frederick County Planning Commission hold a public hearing to consider changes to Chapter 165-201.07 outdoor lighting standards. Passed this September 10,2025,by the following recorded vote: Chairman's Seat Vacant John Jewell Aye Gainesboro Seat Vacant Robert W. Wells Aye Blaine P.Dunn Aye Robert Liero Aye Judith McCann-Slaughter Aye A COPY ATTEST Michael L.Bollhoes�Zi Frederick County,:;�dministrator No. 034-25 c r COUNTY of FREDERICK w w ® Department of Planning and Development 540/ 665-5651 158 Fax: 540/ 665-6395 MEMORANDUM TO: Board of Supervisors FROM: M. Tyler Klein,AICP, Senior Planner SUBJECT: Ordinance Amendment—Outdoor Lighting Standards DATE: September 2,2025 Proposal: This is a proposal to amend Chapter 165 -Zoning Ordinance to amend supplementary use regulations for outdoor lighting contained in §165-201.07. The purpose of this amendment is to "modernize" outdoor lighting standards, review illumination levels, photometric plan requirements and incorporated LED lighting standards into the ordinance. This ordinance amendment was initiated by staff at the request of the Board of Supervisors. Current Standard: As stated in the ordinance,"the purpose and intent of this section is to establish outdoor lighting standards that reduce the impacts of glare,light trespass and overlighting;promote safety and security;and encourage energy conservation."The outdoor lighting standards section was last comprehensively updated in 2009. Summary&Requested Action: This item is presented for information and discussion. Staff is seeking direction from the Board of Supervisors on desired changes.Following a discussion,staff is seeking consensus from the Board to move forward with this amendment and to authorize staff to hold public hearings(TBD). MTK/pd Attachment: 1. §165-201.07—Outdoor Lighting Standards(current) Frederick County,VA § 165-201.07. Outdoor lighting standards. [Added 8-12-20091 The purpose and intent of this section is to establish outdoor lighting standards that reduce the impacts of glare, light trespass and overlighting; promote safety and security; and encourage energy conservation. A. Applicability and general provisions. Except as provided in Subsection F of this section, these standards shall apply to the installation of new outdoor lighting fixtures or the replacement of existing fixtures. Replacement of a fixture shall mean a change of fixture type or change to the mounting height or location of the fixture. Routine lighting fixture maintenance, such as changing lamps or light bulbs, ballast, starter, photo control, housing, lenses and other similar components, shall not constitute replacement and shall be permitted, provided such changes do not result in a higher footcandle output. B. General outdoor lighting standards. (1) All outdoor lighting fixtures shall be designed, shielded, aimed, located and maintained to shield adjacent properties and to not produce glare onto adjacent properties or road rights-of-way. Parking lot fixtures and light fixtures on buildings shall be full-cutoff fixtures. Within residential developments, the Zoning Administrator may approve alternate parking lot fixtures so long as the intent of this section is met. (2) Flashing, revolving, or intermittent exterior lighting visible from any property line or street shall be prohibited. Directional fixtures for advertisement purposes, such as but not limited to high-intensity beams, lasers or strobe lights, shall be prohibited. When permitted, directional fixtures shall be installed or aimed so that they do not shine skyward and to ensure that the light source is not visible from adjacent properties or road rights-of-way. (3) Light fixtures, including mounting base, shall not be more than 25 feet in height above finished grade. On land in the M1 (Light Industrial), M2 (Industrial General), EM (Extractive Manufacturing) and TM (Technology-Manufacturing) Zoning Districts that is contained within an approved master development plan, the Zoning Administrator may allow light fixtures to exceed 25 feet in height if additional security is required, provided that the site is not adjacent to property used for residential or agricultural uses. In no case shall light fixtures in the M1, M2, EM and TM Districts exceed 45 feet in height. [Amended 3-8-2023] (4) Light fixtures shall be placed outside of the paved areas of a site. Lighting fixtures shall be placed within landscaped islands or in the perimeter green space of the site. The Zoning Administrator may allow light fixtures to be placed in alternative locations for uses such as motor vehicle display areas or storage areas so long as the intent of this section is met. (5) Building-mounted or wall-pack lighting fixtures shall not be mounted more than 25 feet above the finished grade of the building. These fixtures shall be shielded(full-cutoff) so that the light source is not visible from adjacent properties or road rights-of-way. Non- cutoff wall-pack lighting fixtures shall not be permitted. (6) All lighting shall be oriented not to direct glare or excessive illumination onto streets in Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/FR1364 on 2025-08-25 Frederick County,VA § 165-201.07 § 165-201.07 a manner that may distract or interfere with the vision of drivers on such streets. (7) Lighting used to illuminate flags, statues, signs or any other objects mounted on a pole, pedestal or platform, spotlighting or floodlighting used for architectural or landscape purposes shall consist of full-cutoff or directionally shielded lighting fixtures that are aimed and controlled so that the directed light shall be substantially confined to the object intended to be illuminated. Directional control shields shall be used where necessary to limit stray light and to ensure that no light source is visible from or causes glare on adjacent properties or road rights-of-way. C. Photometric plan requirements. (1) A photometric lighting plan shall be submitted and approved in conjunction with any site plan required by Article VIII or subdivision design plan as required by Chapter 144 of the Frederick County Code. A photometric plan submitted with site plans shall be current (less than 60 days old) and must be certified by the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP), or a Virginia licensed professional engineer, architect, landscape architect or land surveyor. (2) All such required plans shall include the following: (a) Plans indicating the location on the premises of all lighting fixtures, both proposed and already existing on the site, including a schematic layout of proposed outdoor lighting fixture locations that demonstrate adequate intensities and uniformity, and the light coverage resulting from the proposed lighting layout. (b) Description of all lighting fixtures,both proposed and existing, which shall include but are not limited to catalog cuts and illustrations by manufacturers that describe the equipment, including lamp types, wattage and initial lumen outputs, glare- control devices, lamps, proposed placement of all fixtures, including engineering detail of fixtures, manufacturer, model and installation of same. (c) Photometric data, such as that furnished by manufacturers or similar, showing the angle cut-off light emissions and glare-control devices. (d) Mounting height of all fixtures. D. Outdoor lighting standards for nonresidential uses. (1) The average maintained lighting levels for nonresidential uses shall not exceed the following standards, unless a lower limit is set forth in this subsection: (a) Five footcandles for parking lots and loading areas. (b) Ten footcandles along fronts of buildings and along main drive aisles. (c) Twenty footcandles for high-security areas, such as, but not limited to, automated teller machines (ATMs), motor vehicle display areas and vehicle fuel station canopies, but not including parking lots. (2) Light fixtures under fuel station canopies or any other canopy shall consist of full-cutoff Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/FR1364 on 2025-08-25 Frederick County,VA § 165-201.07 § 165-201.07 lighting fixtures where the light source is either completely flush or recessed within the underside of the canopy. The portions of the canopy not included in the sign area shall not be illuminated. All canopy lighting shall be recessed sufficiently so as to ensure that no light source is visible from or causes glare on adjacent properties or road rights-of- way. (3) Lighting levels shall not exceed 0.2 footcandle at any common property line with property zoned, used as or planned for residential or agricultural uses. In addition, all light poles shall be equipped with supplemental opaque shielding on the residential property side of the lighting fixture to reduce glare caused by direct light source exposure. (4) Lighting levels shall not exceed 5.0 footcandles at any common property line with property zoned or used for commercial or industrial uses, and at any edge of a property line adjacent to a road right-of-way. E. Outdoor lighting standards for multifamily uses and residential parking lots. (1) The average maintained lighting levels for multifamily developments shall not exceed 0.5 footcandle at property line boundaries, except as follows: (a) At any property line boundary with property zoned,used, or planned for residential or agricultural purposes: 0.2 footcandle; and (b) At any edge of a property line adjacent to a road right-of-way: five footcandles. (2) The average maintained lighting levels at buildings,parking lots, and other areas besides at property line boundaries set forth in Subsection E(1) shall not exceed 10 footcandles. F. Lighting standards for recreational facilities in all zoning districts. (1) Lighted recreational facilities shall conform to the requirements set forth in the most current editions of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) RP-6 Recommended Practice for Sports and Recreational Area Lighting and the IESNA Lighting Handbook. Appropriate lighting criteria shall be selected based on the class of play of the facility and participants as defined by the IESNA. (2) No outdoor recreational facility, public or private, shall be illuminated after 11:00 p.m. except to conclude a specific activity or tournament which is in progress under such illumination prior to 11:00 p.m. (3) Lighting fixtures shall be installed to meet the criteria of a cutoff fixture and shall include internal and/or external glare-control louvers. (4) Initial lighting levels shall not exceed the target levels specified by the IESNA by more than 30% to account for light loss factors such as lamp lumen depreciation and luminaire dirt depreciation. (5) All light fixtures/light poles shall be set back a minimum of one foot for every foot in height from any residential or agricultural property line or road right-of-way. Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/FR1364 on 2025-08-25 Frederick County,VA § 165-201.07 § 165-201.07 G. Exemptions from Lighting Ordinance. The following lighting is exempt from the provisions of this section: (1) Lighting fixtures and standards required by the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal and State Occupational Safety and Health Administrations, or other federal or state agencies, to include street lights within a public or private right-of-way. (2) Outdoor lighting fixtures required by law enforcement, fire and rescue, the Virginia Department of Transportation or other emergency response agencies to perform emergency or construction repair work, or to perform nighttime road construction on major thoroughfares. (3) Lighting located on properties developed with residential uses (unless regulated by Subsection E) or agricultural uses, including but not limited to residential security lighting controlled and activated by motion sensors or timing devices. (4) Lighting for holiday decorative purposes located on property used for residential purposes. (5) Lighting for civic activities, fairs or carnivals, provided that the lighting is temporary. Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/FRI364 on 2025-08-25