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Council OKs Wal-Mart
lighting
Plan calls for 25 percent increase over code
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SAHUARITA--The
Town Council on Monday granted a code modification to developers of the Madera
Marketplace shopping center that allows outdoor lighting at 25 percent above
the town code.
The modification will allow the developers, Wal-Mart, Diamond Ventures and
Evergreen Devco of Phoenix, to use 60,000 lumens per acre, up from the 48,000
allowed by code. A lumen is a measure of light emitted from a fixture.
The
vote was 6-1, with council member Joe Taylor voting no.
The developers in recent months insisted they could not
provide for safety without using at least 108,000 lumens per acre. After using
several designers who lacked experience in meeting outdoor lighting
regulations, the developers hired a
Madera Marketplace, northeast of the Bashas'/Wal-Mart
plaza, is the first proposed under the 48,000 lumen per acre limit. The town
council in May raised its limit from 25,000 lumens per acre, keeping pace with
The 60,000 figure was supported by the observatory and
Support for new plan
Whipple officials Dan Brocious and Gene Gardner told
the council they supported the plan submitted by Tucson lighting designer Sarah
Jewett of Electrical Design Associates because it complies with the safety
recommendations of a national lighting engineering association and because
there were some particular needs on this property that justified a
modification.
Those needs include providing light on an
irregularly-shaped property, providing light for safety for two automatic
teller machines (ATMs); a drive-through prescription operation at a Walgreen's
drug store, and a 24-hour-a-day operation at a planned
Brocious termed the plan a "decent" one, but
said he'd prefer 48,000 lumens per acre or zero.
Evergreen Chief Operating Officer Gregg Alpert said,
"We believe it respects the observatory, the environment, public safety
and the town's intent in its lighting code. We believe this plan ... is
responsive to the comments we have received. It's needed to comply with the
nationally recommended standards of the IESNA (Illuminating Engineers Society
of North America) and represents some of the highest-quality lighting design of
any in area, and probably in the state.
"In
Lighting limits
Whipple officials had argued against the 108,000 lumen
per acre limit, saying it would jeopardize astronomical research. Kaplan had
argued that developers wanted extra lighting for advertising. The town, county
and other local jurisdictions have outdoor lighting limits in areas around
Whipple and other observatories.
Kaplan said the process of developing the 60,000 lumen
per acre limit educated him about some flaws in the 48,000 lumen per acre limit
that have to do with irregular parcels and lighting around ATMs.
Kaplan said the task force meets today and he will
discuss the possibility of increasing the task force's recommended limits from
the current 48,000 lumens per acre.
Council members thanked the developers, Whipple and
Kaplan for continuing to negotiate until the 60,000 lumen plan was designed and
thanked residents who turned out to numerous meetings of the council and the
town Planning and Zoning Committee, including members of the La Joya Verde
homeowners association.
Stores will live with plan
Alpert said that some of the tenants, including
Wal-Mart and Walgreen's, had been informed of the 60,000 lumen per acre design,
but said not all tenants had been informed.
Alpert said, "They are comfortable with this plan.
I should not say comfortable, they will live with this plan."
Council member Gordon Van Camp asked whether tenants
were aware that the Walgreen's drug store at
Alpert said "Walgreen's is aware. Evergreen built
it for them. That (lighting level) is not unusual in a place where there are no
lighting restrictions. It was built before
pfranchine@gvnews.com
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©2004 Green Valley News & Sun