Good outdoor lighting at night benefits everyone. It increases
safety, enhances the community's night time character, and helps
provide security. New lighting technologies have produced lights that
are extremely powerful, and these types of lights may be improperly
installed so that they create problems of excessive glare, light trespass,
and higher energy use. Excessive glare can be annoying and may cause
safety problems. Light trespass reduces everyone's privacy, and
higher energy use results in increased costs for everyone. This chapter
recognizes the benefits of outdoor lighting and provides clear guidelines
for its installation so as to help maintain and compliment the borough's
character. Appropriately regulated, and properly installed, outdoor
lighting will contribute to the safety and welfare of Woodstown's
residents. This chapter is intended to reduce the problems created
by improperly designed and installed outdoor lighting. It will help
to eliminate problems of glare, minimize light trespass, and help
reduce the energy and financial costs of outdoor lighting.
For the purposes of this chapter, terms used shall be defined
as follows:
ACRE OR NET ACRE
Any 43,560 contiguous square feet or total of portions thereof
within the same parcel if dissected by existing roads or land dedicated
for roads.
DIRECT LIGHT
Light emitted directly from the lamp, off the reflector or
reflector diffuser or through the refractor or diffuser lens, of a
luminaire.
FIXTURE
The assembly that houses the lamp(s) or bulb(s) in a lighting
system and can include all or some of the following elements designed
to give light output: a housing, a mounting bracket or pole socket,
a lamp holder, a ballast, a reflector or mirror and/or a refractor
or lens.
FLOOD OR SPOTLIGHT
Any light fixture or lamp that incorporates a reflector or
a refractor to concentrate the light output into a directed beam in
a particular direction.
FOOTCANDLE
Unit of illuminance (brightness) equal to one lumen per square
foot.
FULLY SHIELDED LIGHTS OR FULL CUTOFF
Outdoor light fixtures shielded or constructed so that no
light rays are emitted by the installed fixture at angles above the
horizontal plane as certified by a photometric test report.
GLARE
Light emitting from a luminaire with an intensity great enough
to reduce a viewer's ability to see; any annoyance, visual impairment
or discomfort experienced by an observer with a direct line of sight
to a light source, or from high-angle lights emanating from a source.
GRANDFATHERED LUMINAIRES
Luminaires not conforming to this chapter that were in place
at the time this chapter was voted into effect. When an ordinance
grandfathers a luminaire, it means that such already existing outdoor
lighting does not need to be changed unless a specific period is specified
for adherence to the chapter.
HEIGHT OF LUMINAIRE
The vertical distance from the ground directly below the
centerline of the luminaire to the lowest direct-light-emitting part
of the luminaire.
HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE LIGHTING
A family of bulb type including mercury vapor, metal halide
and high pressure or low pressure sodium, which glow when an electric
current is passed through a gas mixture inside the bulb.
INDIRECT LIGHT
Direct light that has been reflected or has scattered off
other surfaces.
INVENTORY OF LIGHTING
A list of lamps indicating the bulb type, bulb wattage and
manufacturer through which the rated lumens can be determined.
LAMP
The component of a luminaire that produces the actual light.
LIGHT SOURCE
The bulb and lens, diffuser, or reflective enclosure.
LIGHT TRESPASS
Light projected by a luminaire beyond the boundaries of the
property on which it is located.
LUMEN
A unit of luminous flux. One footcandle is one lumen per
square foot. For the purposes of this section, the lumen-output values
shall be the initial lumen output ratings of a lamp.
LUMINAIRE
This is a complete lighting system, including a lamp or lamps
and a fixture.
NON-CUTOFF
A light fixture which does not cut off all upward transmission
of light.
OUTDOOR LIGHTING
The nighttime illumination of an outside area or object by
any manmade device located outdoors that produces light by any means.
TEMPORARY OUTDOOR LIGHTING
The specific illumination of an outside area or object by
any manmade device located outdoors that produces light by any means
for a period of less than seven days, with at least 180 days passing
before being used again.