City of Santa Barbara RESOLUTION NO. 97-149
and Design Guidelines   Adopted  12/9/97



RESOLUTION NO. 97-149

          WHEREAS,     there is a need for Outdoor Lighting Design Guidelines within the City of Santa Barbara which recognizes the benefits of outdoor lighting, and provides clear guidelines for its installation and proper use so as to help maintain and complement the City's night time character.

          WHEREAS,     it is desirable to reduce light pollution; to minimize the negative effects of sky glow caused by improper lighting; and to eliminate unnecessary nuisance lighting.

          WHEREAS,     the City of Santa Barbara possesses a rich architectural heritage and a uniquely beautiful scenic environment. It is important that illumination is intelligently planned to complement this environment, is subtle and avoids overlighting, and provides a cohesive appearance for the city and its neighborhoods.

           WHEREAS,     safety and security for persons and property are also of paramount concern, and it is necessary to recognize the importance of quality of light versus quantity.

           WHEREAS,     poorly designed lighting may compromise safety, security, and visibility through excessive glare, diminishes privacy and wastes energy through misdirected light.

           WHEREAS,     the Outdoor Lighting Design Guidelines are intended to recognize the benefits of outdoor night-time lighting, and to provide clear guidelines for the design, installation and use of lighting in order to help maintain and complement the character of Santa Barbara.

           WHEREAS,     the goal of these guidelines is to promote a high standard of quality for lighting in commercial and residential areas of Santa Barbara, and to assist Design Review Boards, Planning staff, architects, lighting designers, and applicants with an understanding of the concepts behind good lighting design.

            WHEREAS,     the guidelines will establish a means to achieve that goal by establishing standards to enable reviewer to determine that the intent of the guidelines has been met.

        NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA BARBARA THAT:

1.  The outdoor Lighting Design Guidelines, dated November 25, 1997, and attached hereto as Exhibit "I" are hereby adopted.

Adopted December 9, 1997

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Santa Barbara possesses a rich architectural heritage and a uniquely beautiful scenic environment. At night, lighting is an integral component of this built and natural environment. It is important that illumination is intelligently planned to complement this environment, is subtle and avoids overlighting, and provides a cohesive appearance for the city and its neighborhoods. Safety and security for persons and property are also of paramount concern, and it is necessary to recognize importance of quality of light versus quantity.

The goal of this guideline is to promote a high standard of quality for lighting in commercial and residential areas of Santa Barbara, and to assist Design Review Boards, Planning staff, architects, lighting designers, and applicants with an understanding of the concepts behind good lighting design and a means to achieve that goal by establishing parameters to enable reviewers to determine that the intent of the guideline has been met.

Part One - General Guideline
 

Lighting fixtures should be appropriate to the style of architecture or aesthetically concealed from view. (See also Guidelines for El Pueblo Viejo District.)

Illumination levels should be appropriate to the type of use proposed, the architectural style of the structure and the overall neighborhood.

Lighting should be designed to control glare, minimize light trespass onto adjacent properties, minimize direct upward light emission, promote effective security, and avoid interference with safe operation of motor vehicles. The minimum intensity needed for the intended purpose should be used. This paragraph is not intended to preclude the use of decorative lantern fixtures with visible lamps, provided that they meet other provisions of these guidelines.

Lighting of building facades should be considered for appropriateness.

Blinking, moving or changing intensity of illumination; illumination of roofs; and internal illumination of awnings are not allowed. Strings of small lights attached to buildings are not allowed except for temporary holiday installations between the last week of November and the first week of January of the following year.

In the Hillside Design District, light fixtures for landscape, recreation, or building lighting, should not emit undesirable light rays, either direct or reflected, into the night sky. Such lighting could create skyglow, which is inconsistent with rural residential areas.

In all residential areas, illumination levels should be compatible with residential uses. Lighting for commercial installations proximate to residential use should be deigned to be compatible with residential illumination levels.

Lighting of signs shall be reviewed by the Sign Committee, and shall be consistent with these guideline.

Other laws or ordinances may require minimum illumination levels for specified applications and may conflict with these guideline. In such cases, those laws or ordinances shall govern.

A.     Parking Lots and Traffic Areas

Goals: - To provide a cohesive and homogeneous general illumination for parking lots and traffic areas that is similar to the color quality of incandesce a lighting. The use of Deluxe HPS lamps is encouraged to provide high color rendering ability. - To meet minimum industry-recommended light levels for safety and uniformity, but avoid glare and overlighting. Design review boards may approve higher light levels than stated below, where necessary in limited areas, for additional safety and security. - To promote the use of cut-off type fixture for area lighting, and decorative lanterns for lower level accents.

1.     Lighting shall be High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Standard or Deluxe.

2.     Lamps in cut-off type fixtures should be a maximum of 400 watts. Horizontal lamp mounting and flat glass lens are preferred over vertical lamp mounting. 'Sag' or 'drop' lenses result in excessive glare and are not acceptable. Additional shielding of fixture shall be required as determined by the design review board to avoid fixture glare viewed from adjacent residential properties.

3.     Lamps in decorative lantern type fixtures should be a maximum of 100 watts.

4.     Fixtures should be in scale with the proposed pole height. Elevations of the building with poles and fixtures superimposed shall be provided for review.

5.     Total pole and fixture height should be a maximum of 20 feet, measured from grade at the base. Poles should be appropriately scaled for smaller buildings and lots. Closer spacing and lower wattage may be required. Taller poles may be considered in some situations, but should not conflict with tree canopies.

6.     Pole lighting fixtures shall also be shown on the landscape plan to demonstrate coordination of fixtures and tree planting.
 

Note: The following additional requirements apply for all new installations and expansions of existing projects, unless deemed by staff and design review board to be of a minor nature.

8.     Illuminance should be a maximum of 3 foot-candles, average, measured at ground level.

9.     The ratio between the maximum and minimum illuminance should not exceed 7:1. In general, 400 watt HPS lamps should not be mounted lower than 16 feet above ground, nor should 250 watt HPS lamps be lower than 12 feet.

10.     Provide a point by point foot-candle plot on a site plan showing illuminance to 20 feet beyond the property line. Show minimum average, maximum foot-candles, and the uniformity ratio. Where adjacent to residential uses illuminance should not exceed 0.1 (1/10) foot-candle at 10 feet beyond property line. Where adjacent to commercial uses, illuminance should not exceed 0.2 (2/10) foot-candle at 10 feet beyond property line.

 B.     Exterior Sales and Service Areas

 1.     Lighting shall be High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Metal Halide (MH), or Fluorescent.

2.     Pole mounted fixtures shall have 400 watt maximum HPS or MH lamp in cut-off type fixtures. Horizontal lamp mounting and flat glass lens are preferred over vertical lamp mounting. 'Sag' or 'drop' lenses result in excessive glare and are not acceptable. Additional shielding of fixtures shall be required as determined by the design review board to avoid fixture glare viewed from adjacent residential properties.

3.     Fixtures should be in scale with the proposed pole height. Provide an elevation of the building with poles and fixtures superimposed.

4.     Total pole and fixture height should be a maximum of 20 feet, measured from grade at the base. Poles should be appropriately scaled for smaller buildings and lots. Closer spacing and lower wattage may be required. Taller poles may be considered, in some situations but should not conflict with tree canopies.

5.     Lighting installations shall be equipped with controls for photocell on and timer off. Plans submitted shall specify the off time proposed. This requirement shall not preclude a provision for reduced light levels or reduced number of fixtures for after-hours security.

6.     Fixtures mounted in service station canopies should be fully recessed, where feasible, and with flush or recessed diffusers. Where the underside of a canopy is sloping, fixtures should be of a type to permit aiming straight down. All fixtures shall be designed to control glare.

7.     For automobile sales areas, illuminance shall be a maximum of 70 foot-candles at ground level. Provide a point by point foot-candle plot on a site plan showing illuminance to 20 feet beyond the property line. Show minimum, average, maximum foot-candles, and the uniformity ratio. Where adjacent to residential uses, illuminance should not exceed 0.1 (1/10) foot-candle at 10 feet beyond property line. Where adjacent to commercial uses, illuminance should not exceed 0.2 (2/10) foot-candle at 10 feet beyond property line.

8.     The above calculations for minimum, average, and maximum foot-candles, and uniformity ratio, shall be based on a statistical area that does not include points beyond the property line, or more than 1.5 pole heights measured horizontally from the base of the pole.

9.     For service station canopies, illuminance should not exceed 40 foot-candles average, with a maximum of 60 foot-candles at ground level. Provide a point by point foot-candle plot on a site plan showing illuminance to 20 feet beyond the canopy. Show minimum average and maximum foot-candles.

10.     Pole lighting fixtures shall also be shown on landscape plan to demonstrate coordination of fixtures and tree planting.

1.     Lighting should be High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Metal Halide (MH), Fluorescent, or Incandescent. - Mercury Vapor (MV) may be uses for illuminating landscaping.

2.     Landscape and building lighting should be carefully shielded to avoid view of the source and aimed to avoid spill light onto adjacent properties or into the night sky.

3.     Lighting should be subtle. HPS, MH, or MV sources should not exceed 175 watts, and incandescent sources should not exceed 300 watts.

4.     Lighting installations shall be equipped with controls for photocell on and timer off. Plans shall specify the off time proposed. This requirement shall not preclude a provision for reduced light levels or reduced number of fixtures for after-hours security.
 

D.     Security Lighting

1.     Security lighting is exterior lighting installed solely to enhance the security of people and property.

2.     Security lighting should meet the above guidelines, and especially should be designed to control glare and direct view of illumination sources, and to confine illumination to the property on which the fixtures are located.

3.     Lighting fixtures that are aimed at a building are much more effective for security than fixtures that are mounted on the building and that can blind observers of the property (police, neighbors or others).

4.     Security lighting shall be High Pressure sodium (HPS) or Incandescent.

E.     Exceptions to Guideline

1.     Nothing in these guidelines shall preclude the design review board from reviewing and approving, or conditionally approving, an exception to these guidelines. Exceptions may include, but are not limited to, illuminance level, illumination source, or pole height. The design review board shall include findings in their approval, such as references to historical authenticity special circumstances, existing installation, or other similar findings as deemed appropriate. The approval of an exception shall not be construed to establish a precedent.
 

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