I started the Dark Sky research and probably put in 10 - 15 hours searching through ordinances and trying to better understand Bluff's capability for Dark Sky, what they would achieve by doing it, and general ordinance information. Below is a small portion of what I was able to find.
Bluff’s Dark Sky Capability:
- Retention of Community Character
- Residents want dark skies
- Still in a place that lighting can be controlled and curbed
- Petroglyphs that are sky related
- Huge participation in tribal nations
- Amenity West Community
- Promote dark skies at the arts festival and other festivals
- House of the Moon on Cedar Mesa
Ordinance Information:
- Lighting
- Type
- Externally illuminated signs (ban on internally illuminated)
- Down lit and back lit signs
- Blue spectrum
- *Look at Ketchum ordinance - fully shielded, downward directed, blue spectrum
- Location
- Residential
- Governmental
- Commercial
- Reuse automobile pieces and scraps for lighting fixtures
- Promote externally illuminated down lit and back lit signs, and use the words community character to help associate the lighting with the character of the place. (see Sabastisopal, CA and Golita CA)
- AMA blue spectrum street lighting - Street lighting has to be a certain kind
- Reasons for Ordinance
- Economic Development - in family friendly manner
- Retention of Community Character
- Dark Skies for our children and our children’s children
- Private Property Rights - Light Trespassing
- Go Beyond the Ogden Model
- Summerland, CA
- East Hampton Long Island
- Sabastopal, CA
- Golita, CA
- Sedona - Sedona potentially did right what Moab missed on the lighting aspect
Things To Consider:
- Wildlife
- Identify businesses in Bluff that already have dark sky lighting
- Light trespassing
- Bears Ears biggest national monument larger than Rhode Island
- Astro Tourism Dollars
- Colorado Dark Sky Cooperative - Astro Tourism dollars increase because it adds a night stay and a crowd shift to night time - see Fort Collins
- Dark Sky Initiative Ordinance Guidelines - Historic, Golden, and Test Case they want to take it to other communities
- What communities currently have a ban on internally illuminated signs?
Dark Sky Initiative Locations:
- Grand Canyon
- Capitol Reef?
- Hovenweep National Monument?
- Natural Bridges National Monument?
- Canyonlands National Park?
- Dead Horse Point State Park?
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