Bright ideas
Whitefish city employee Steve Carlson installs a new streetlight Monday afternoon. City workers installed several new types of streetlights on Columbia Avenue and Second Street. City residents will judge the lights to decide which style they prefer. The old lights must be replaced because they don’t meet requirements of the new lighting ordinance. Chris Jordan/Daily Inter Lake
The Daily Inter Lake
Sample streetlights ready for viewing in Whitefish
Whitefish residents can stroll down the north end of Columbia Avenue during the next few weeks to look at sample streetlights aimed at curbing urban light pollution.
The city's decorative streetlamps, chosen for their historic style and aesthetic appeal, don't meet the requirements of a proposed lighting ordinance for Whitefish because they allow some light to shine upward, creating glare and wasted energy.
Residents told a City Council-appointed lighting committee that seeing other streetlamp styles would help them decide whether the existing lights should stay or go, committee member Lisa Jones said.
The committee has been working with lighting vendors to get sample lights installed along the north end of Columbia Avenue this week. They'll be up from six to eight weeks.
A walking tour is planned next week. Times are pending and will be announced later.
A map and detailed description of the sample streetlights will be available for those who want to tour the sample lights on their own.
The committee has been studying ways to regulate outdoor lighting in Whitefish and its planning area to ensure safety and essential nighttime lighting while preserving energy and the night sky. A public meeting was held last fall.
If passed, the lighting law would require that all outdoor lights be brought into compliance within three years, but extensions would be permitted for commercial lighting. The height of parking-lot lights would be regulated. Exceptions would be made for holiday lights, certain floodlights, sensor-activated lights, flag lights and emergency lights.
The committee plans to finalize its recommendations and present them to the Whitefish City-County Planning Board in April.