Let There Be Light — or Not

 — by Fred Klein —

The Eastsound Planning and Review Committee, EPRC, in conjunction with the Orcas Chamber of Commerce, has scheduled a public meeting to consider the issue of lighting in the public realm of Eastsound.

• Where: The Eastsound Fire Hall
• When: Tuesday, June 30th, 6 pm until 8 pm

Please plan to arrive on time, or a few minutes early!

This meeting is intended as an opening to a community conversation about whether or not to add street or sidewalk lighting, and if so, what form it should take, and where it might be most useful. The discussion will include the issues of existing lighting on buildings and in parking areas, current regulations and their enforcement.

EPRC has prepared a slide show entitled “Eastsound Lighting Considerations” which can be found on the Orcas Library website…here’s a link to it:

https://www.orcaslibrary.org/docs/ELC.pdf

Anyone planning to attend the June 30th meeting is urged to review this presentation BEFORE the meeting so everyone will have some appreciation for the possibilities ahead and some background on the existing regulations.

Additional background on this topic can be had by reading this March 18th guest column, “Speaking of Streetlights” at Orcas Issues…and here’s a link to it:

https://www.orcasissues.com/guest-column-speaking-of-streetlights

Included are additional links to in-depth discussions of light pollution, the “Dark Sky” movement, the effects of varying light sources on the human eye, traffic safety, and security…may be more than you want to know, but fascinating nonetheless.

While it may seem strange to have a conversation about street lighting this time of the year when we see the sun until 9:30 pm, we have, after all, just celebrated the Solstice…but the days are now becoming shorter, and it won’t be too long before it’s dark by 4 pm in the afternoon.

Please make your attendance at this meeting a priority…especially if you spend time in Eastsound after dark (or would like to)…join the discussion…add your wisdom. If warranted, dates will be set for subsequent meetings to enable the reaching of a consensus on this topic; “consensus” being defined as,

“a decision by a group of people, a decision which everyone may not feel is the best decision, but a decision which everyone can live with, and commit themselves not to undermine”