Council turns down lights

Big city lights STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER These lights at Dennis Dreyer Municipal Marina are among lights that must be altered or replaced to conform with a new ordinance that outlaws glaring lights throughout a wide area of Port Aransas, according to Dave Parsons, the city’s planning and projects manager. Let there be less light.

The Port Aransas City Council has passed a new ordinance expanding the areas of town where glare from outdoor lighting is prohibited.

The council approved a third reading of the ordinance, 6-1, with Councilman Mike Hall voting against it.

Councilman Rick Pratt was one of the main proponents of the ordinance.

“I couldn’t be more delighted,” Pratt said after the vote. “We’re on our way to being able to see the stars again, to putting that down as one of the attractions in our town.”

Hall said he favors the concept of keeping lights low around town at night but that the ordinance was simply a “band-aid” approach to a complex issue. He said the ordinance was “not wellthought through” and that it could end up resulting in subjective enforcement that might unfairly cost some people a lot of money to change their lighting.

A light ordinance passed in 2002 affects most business areas of town, including Alister Street, Cut-off Road, Cotter Avenue, Avenue G, Beach Street, the Flats, the harbor area and Access Road 1A.

Businesses and government facilities in those parts of town are supposed to be in compliance, but many are not, said Dave Parsons, the city’s planning and projects manager.

The new ordinance applies to the rest of the city. It includes the area of The Dunes Condominium. Much of the discussion that led to the passage of the ordinance originated with neighbors complaining about bright parking lot security lights at The Dunes.

Speaking at the council meeting, Bud Baker, general manager at The Dunes, said the ordinance could cost business owners too much money and hurt security for customers and employees.

The Dunes has had many vehicle burglaries over the years in the condominium’s parking lot, Baker said. The stronger lighting was installed to provide enough light for security cameras, he said.

The Dunes addressed neighbors’ concerns by installing hoods over light fixtures. The light poles were raised to better shine directly downward, but that reduced the lighting so much that the security cameras couldn’t work well, so the condo installed infrared cameras. Despite the changes, neighbors continued to complain, Baker said.

Suzanne McCann, one of The Dunes neighbors who has spoken out against the condominium’s lighting, said she was happy with the passage of the ordinance.

“I think, in the long run, it will be very good for the city of Port Aransas,” McCann said. “Communities that have this (lighting control) find that residents and tourists appreciate the ability to enjoy the night sky, the stars. As growth continues throughout the island, this will be an important feature to incorporate in new development.”

The ordinance was up for a third reading May 21, but it was tabled after Hall raised concerns that it could unfairly hit small business owners in the pocketbook.

Mayor Claude Brown argued against the ordinance because it exempted town facilities from complying.

City staff put together alternative language that the council ended up inserting in the ordinance in the final reading June 18. The language states that:

• Traffic control lights and low-intensity gas station lighting fixtures are exempt;

• Existing street lights are exempt, but it would be city policy that street lights would get low-glare “cut-off refractor” lighting equipment when replacement time comes;

• Public facilities including parks, sports fields and the airport are exempt, but all other city facilities must abide by the measure. Those include city hall, Ellis Memorial Library, the police station, public works plant, fire station, transfer station, Dennis Dreyer Municipal Marina, fishing piers, the Community Center and Port Aransas Museum.

Noise nuisance Regarding nuisances, the council also addressed the subject of noise at the June 18 meeting. Councilman Charles Bujan proposed that an ordinance be created to require live music venues to install materials that would absorb sound, if they haven’t already.

The council did not vote on Bujan’s suggestion, but Parsons said city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission will consider it at future meetings.

The council was scheduled on May 21 to consider a second reading of a revised noise ordinance that would have imposed new restrictions to keep loud music from bothering residents living near outdoor music venues. But the council held no vote, effectively killing the proposed ordinance, after nightclub owners showed up at the meeting and complained that the measure would hurt their businesses and Port Aransas tourism.

The live-music issue is expected to surface again. Parsons said the Planning and Zoning Commission, in the course of a general rewrite of zoning district ordinances, will consider whether to establish certain commercial areas of town as places where live music can or cannot be played. Such a move probably would affect only future live-music venues, not existing ones, he said.