To the editor:
This is in response to the Nov. 23 YachatsNews article on the hospitality industry’s pushback to the proposed lighting ordinance in Yachats.
It is ironic that those who have been violating our health and safety ordinance (Yachats Municipal Code 5.08.165) for the past 15 years claim to be doing so for safety. And the Yachats City Council, whose obligation it is to enforce that code, is now facilitating “a compromise.” Color me skeptical.
I don’t know if the council has been presented with the results of the Planning Commission’s public survey, but the people who responded, overwhelmingly oppose the “marine lights.” The commission knows this because it specifically asked them that question.
Perhaps another survey might be in order, but the City Council and the hospitality industry should understand that the sampling done by the Planning Commission is unambiguous – the sampled community opposes these lights by a pretty wide margin.
Compromise isn’t actually a land use policy, and the community isn’t obligated to do so. Land use Goal C, Policy #2 obligates the city to mitigate adverse effects upon water quality and fish and wildlife habitat resulting from the use of shore lands.
There is clear evidence that these lights attract insects, which dramatically skews their natural distribution. Species of bats that tolerate light will gorge themselves on the clouds of congregated insects, while those that are “light-shy” will go hungry. How does compromise mitigate this adverse effect?
The giant orange domes of glare that reach high into the night sky above the 804 Trail are the single biggest source of light pollution in Yachats. These giant, high-intensity, focused beam lights are obviously for the aesthetic enjoyment of shoreline views from inside the buildings, and are not intended for exterior security or safety purposes. Sitting in the restaurant, or in your room, enjoying the illuminated surf is the entire point. The Yelp reviews, that even bother to mention the lights at all, enjoyed them from inside the building.
However, upon stepping outside of the building, these bright lights ruin ones night vision and actually make walking the 804 Trail dangerous. For the same reason that shining a bright light directly into your eyes doesn’t help you see better in the dark, these high intensity lights create a very high contrast condition of blinding glare, surrounded by inky darkness. Additionally, illuminating the rocky bluff at night, serves as a implicit invitation to explore the buffs at night. Clearly a bad idea.
The assumption that visitors would prefer an artificially illuminated, Disneyesque experience, rather than the unspoiled darkness, and unobstructed view of the deep shy is highly questionable, and even a little old fashioned, in my opinion. In today’s highly light-polluted world, dark skies are marketable, and some of the best viewing occurs during the winter months when thermal eddies are minimal.
Just imagine, the Milky Way Galaxy illuminating our dark southern sky. Imagine the bluff, busy with people setting up tripods for telescopes, deep-sky binoculars and cameras. Imagine renown astro-photographers (not to mention our really fine local photographers) coming to Yachats to photograph the Andromeda Galaxy, or the Great Orion Nebula, both of which, are visible through binoculars on a moonless night.
Imagine kids being able to see, for the first time, the moons of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn. Imagine the benefit of dark skies, coupled with our unimpeded views of the western horizon, when the next comet makes its trip to our sunset. Yes, it rains a lot, but we get stretches of clear winter skies in January and February that are absolutely perfect for deep sky enthusiasts.
Perhaps rather than using threats and coercion to force a compromise, the hospitality industry, and the City Council, should consider respecting the opinion of the community and our land-use policies. Let’s turn the lights off, and find ways to capture the economic benefits that a dark sky has to offer.
— Douglas Conner, Yachats
The new fire station is another light pollution offender with their ridiculous light up flag poles that stay on all night in what used to be a forest. The entire complex glows like a UFO landed there at night.
The traditional way that institutions show respect for the flag is to unfold and raise the flag at dawn, known as Reveille, and then lowering and folding it again at dusk, known as Retreat. Flag etiquette provides that flags flown at night should be illuminated, but traditionally, the flag is not flown at night. High Schools all over the county still respect the flag the traditional way, so there is no reason the fire department personnel couldn’t simply preform Reveille and Retreat in the traditional way, and not use the pole lights at all. Do it old school!