{"id":1225,"date":"2015-03-19T15:33:39","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T21:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/night-scenes.com\/?p=1225"},"modified":"2015-03-19T15:33:39","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T21:33:39","slug":"new-horseshoe-bay-outdoor-lighting-ordinance-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/night-scenes.com\/2015\/03\/19\/new-horseshoe-bay-outdoor-lighting-ordinance-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"New Horseshoe Bay Outdoor Lighting Ordinance – What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some things to know about the Horseshoe Bay Outdoor Lighting Ordinance<\/h2>\n

When Stan Farmer, the Horseshoe Bay City Manager, told me that the city wanted to become a Dark-Sky city, I was honored that he would ask for my input, and very happy to help out in any way I could. As a long-time member of the International Dark-Sky Association<\/strong><\/a><\/span> I have always promoted responsible outdoor lighting practices. I believe that any city would do well by adding some reasonable restrictions on outdoor lighting. I\u2019ve also been designing and installing outdoor lighting systems in Horseshoe Bay for about 11 years now, and have participated in efforts to conserve our dark skies in the hill country. The Horseshoe Bay Outdoor\u00a0lighting ordinance<\/strong><\/a><\/span> went into effect on February 17th<\/sup> of this year.<\/p>\n

\"Horseshoe<\/a>
Outdoor Living Space with Bistro Lighting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When evaluating a lighting plan it\u2019s important to remember that most of us genuinely enjoy spending time outdoors after dark. But to be completely comfortable, we have to have some lighting for safety and security reasons. The trick is to not overdo it and to do it smartly. Most homeowners are actually surprised at how little it takes to light walkways and steps well to avoid trips and falls. It\u2019s been a well-known fact that good outdoor lighting will help to keep the \u201cboogie man<\/span>\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/span> or other criminal element away as well. Also, nice outdoor lighting looks good, darn it! One last thing to mention here is that low voltage LED landscape lighting, when well-designed, installed and aimed properly, has virtually no impact<\/em><\/strong> on the night time skies. Believe me, my home is a test facility and has far more lights than I would ever design for a client — and I have a wonderful starry sky above that I can see just fine.<\/p>\n

The primary focus of this lighting ordinance is to limit the amount of lumens on a property to a reasonable level, and to keep the outdoor lighting on the property where it is installed. Ultimately, it\u2019s meant to be good neighbor lighting. Here are the primary lighting restrictions that the residents should keep in mind within the Horseshoe Bay city limits:<\/p>\n