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What can I do?

Many people become frustrated by the immensity of the problems related to bad outdoor lighting and feel that the situation is hopeless. While the problem is huge and will take a long time to resolve, doing nothing only assures that it will be much worse in the future. By doing something today, at least we can hope to improve the situation for our children and generations to come.

The bad lighting that you see everywhere is caused by a lack of outdoor lighting standards. Many local governments simply have not taken the necessary measures to control outdoor lighting installations. This is due in a great part to lack of knowledge and an unwillingness of local governments to pro actively address the issue before the explosive growth in the past few decades made the problem obvious to all.

In addition, Virginia's form of government is one of only three in the nation that uses a "Dillon Rule" instead of "Home Rule". Due to the Dillon Rule, Virginia requires that there be a state law giving express authority to local governments to enable them to create ordinances. This means that without "enabling legislation", even local governments that want to enact outdoor lighting ordinances, need to ask Richmond for permission.

So one of VOLT's priorities has always been to work with members of the General Assembly to get outdoor lighting enabling legislation passed. We have introduced bills for the past two years but have had no success as of today. We will continue to push for this legislation in the future. Take the time to contact your elected officials in Richmond to let them know that you support Outdoor Lighting Standards legislation.

Who's my representative?

The next step is to work with local governments and DPZ staff to get outdoor lighting ordinances enacted. The good news is that several counties have already passed some form of outdoor lighting ordinance and several more are in the process. Here is the Local Government Contact page to see what is being done in your locality and who you can contact to let them know you want an outdoor lighting ordinance . Here is a list of localities that currently have ordinances and links to them. Virginia Outdoor Lighting Ordinances

The most important thing you can do is let businesses that use overly bright and glare producing fixtures know that their facilities are not community friendly. Many businesses are simply ignorant to the facts and believe the erroneous adage, "More light is better". They have also been told by marketing people that more light will make their customers feel safer and this will bring in more customers. Many business owners have seized on the "brighter the lights, the more customers will come" argument and have increased the brightness of their establishments to outrageous levels. In fact, many service stations now use the same amount of light recommended by IESNA for an hospital operating room, all this light just so that you can pump your gas! This is 8 - 10 times the amount of light that IESNA recommends for a service station.

Take the time to let the owner or manager know that only quality outdoor lighting makes you feel safe and try to educate them to the dangers of glare, light trespass and sky glow. Also let them know that if they don't want to be community friendly, you will take your business elsewhere. In many cases it takes very little to improve a "bad" lighting installation. Installing lower wattage lamps and fixture shielding can make a significant improvement for very little money. But businesses often will not do this unless they feel it will bring them more business. If you let them know you will stop using them, they will get the message.

Make a serious effort to patronize businesses that have community friendly lighting. Let them know that one of the reasons that you give them your business is that they have installed responsible outdoor lighting. Feedback works both ways!

Finally, Join VOLT and volunteer to work in your community to improve the quality of the nighttime environment and improve safety and energy efficiency. We need your help to educate citizens, businesses and government officials about quality outdoor lighting.