must have an external cover of at least 50 inches per floor, across all garage floors, to shield residences from the glare of vehicle headlights. This is 6 inches greater than the city’s previ- ous standard for garage shielding. Lighting on the exterior of com- mercial properties on public streets or adjacent to or across from residential developments must have a maximum color temperature of 3,500 Kelvin—a neutral-warm tone—and the light must be housed within the fixture itself to limit glare and light trespass onto neighboring residential prop- erties. Commercial properties must also provide a shield to block out their lighting on property abutting residen- tial developments. Bulk containers, such as those used for garbage, now must be screened in on all public streets and when adja- cent to residential properties. The community response Stevens said she believes the ordi- nances will cause a change in future development. “I think it will have a significant impact,” she said. “It will make a dif- ference. Will it make as big a differ- ence as some would like? We’ll just have to wait and see.” Stevens and Debbie Moran, an ama- teur astronomer who, over the years, has gained knowledge on lighting from organizations such as the Inter- national Dark Sky Association, spoke at the Jan. 11 public hearing at Hous- ton City Council’s meeting, after a presentation from Wallace Brown and Bandi from the Planning & Develop- ment Department. Warmer, or less-blue light, allows one to see more at night, according to Moran, who champions her local fight via Softlight Houston. “The shorter-wavelength light, which is the bluer light, scatters a lot worse. So that’s why we perceive the white headlights and whiter security lights as so much higher glare,” she said. “So if you even have the same wattage of a bulb, if it’s warmer ver- sus cooler or bluer, the blue is going to look a lot more harsh to the eye. And that’s just physics. It’s a short-wave- length light scattering a lot more than the longer-wavelength light.” Moran also said bluer light is det- rimental to melatonin production and to sleep, citing studies from the National Institute of Health and Har- vard University. “For millennia, animals, humans have been keyed in … to recognize night versus day. And it was not from
DEVELOPMENT CODE DIFFERENCES Houston City Council passed the following changes to the city’s building code, on Jan. 25. These amendments will affect all future developments.
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requirements. The new standard deals with how exterior lighting from residential buildings and commer- cial construction should be placed as well as a new standard for Kelvin, a measurement used to gauge the color temperature of light bulbs with higher ratings indicating whiter light. The changes also update require- ments for commercial garages to shield residents on shared streets from headlights shining into their homes and made changes to how commercial businesses are allowed to have dumpsters on streets shared with residential properties. “We really started hearing about some of these complicated relation- ships between commercial develop- ment and residential development when we were working with our Walkable Places and Transit-Ori- ented Development rules,” said Mar- garet Wallace Brown, secretary of the city’s Planning and Development Department. Changes to new developments Under the changes, high- and mid- rise structures must provide a buffer— or a physical block, such as a fence and landscaping—with 30 to 40 feet in between single- and multifamily and high-rises structures and 15 feet in between single- and multifamily for mid-rises when along local, primarily residential roads. High-rise structures are defined in the ordinance as being above 75 feet tall, while mid-rises are between 65 and 75 feet. This buffer is meant to provide a physical separation between these differing types of neighboring resi- dential properties, such as through fencing—which is required to be 8 feet tall—and landscaping. “The benefit of the buffering changes to the residents is multifold. Instead of just protecting single-fam- ily homes on larger lots, these amend- ments will provide protection to all single-family and small multifamily developments when high-rise or mid- rise structures are proposed abutting homes in highly residential areas,” Suvidha Bandi, project manager for the Planning and Development Department, said via email. These rules will help encourage higher-density developments along major corridors, instead of within neighborhoods, according to Bandi. Going forward, all garages in the city of Houston that are adjacent to or are across from residential properties
Buffering • Structures taller than 75 feet must provide a buffer of 30-40 feet from all residential developments. • Structures from 65-75 feet must provide a buffer of 15 feet from residences along local streets.
LEAH FOREMAN/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Parking garage screening • Garage faces abutting or across from residences must provide 50 inches of cover to each parking floor to block light from car headlights and to limit light trespass from fixtures.
SHAWN ARRAJJ/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Lighting • All outdoor fixtures abutting a street or residential development must use lights with a max of 3,500 Kelvin. • Fixtures cannot create light trespass of more than 0.2 foot-candles over the property line.
COURTESY SOFTLIGHT HOUSTON
Bulk container screening • Bulk containers must be screened if abutting a residential development or on a public street.
LEAH FOREMAN/COMMUNITY IMPACT
TALKS OVER TEMPERATURE Debate involved qualms over the right color temperature. The ordinance change sets 3,500 Kelvin as the maximum temperature to avoid the harsh effects of bluer, cooler lighting.
K=Kelvin
Warm
Neutral
Cool
2,000 K 2,700 K 3,000 K 3,500 K 4,000 K 5,000 K 6,000 K 6,500 K
3,500 K is the new maximum for outdoor lighting xtures in Houston
SOURCE: CITY OF HOUSTON PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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