Foley adopts new regulations to limit light pollution

GCM Staff Report

New regulations approved by Foley City Council will limit the amount of light spilling onto neighboring residential properties. The council has amended the city’s zoning ordinance to restrict light from shining onto surrounding areas and to expand the Beach Express Overlay District.

Wayne Dyess, Foley’s executive director of infrastructure and development, noted that residents had reported issues with light from neighboring commercial sites affecting their properties.

“What a lot of this is designed to make sure you don’t have light pollution or light trespass as they call it,” Dyess said. “So, your light should be for your property. Light for commercial property is going to be confined to those boundaries.”

Dyess added that such light restrictions are common across Baldwin County and other parts of Alabama.
Mayor Ralph Hellmich highlighted that advancements in lighting technology make it easier to control light spillage.

“The advent of LED lighting really facilitates keeping light from just flooding a quarter of a mile,” Hellmich said. “It won’t stop all light, obviously, at the property line, but it will direct it and keep it from being obnoxious and it does set a standard.”

In addition to light regulations, the Beach Express Overlay District now encompasses the entire Foley Beach Express. Previously, the overlay district was limited to major intersections along the expressway.

“To keep things in a continuous form, the whole area would be under this,” Dyess explained. “There are very light design standards that wouldn’t affect the land use of the zoning. This is an area of ​​the city that’s relatively undeveloped along the Beach Express, and we’re hoping that we can have a positive impact on how it looks in the future with the standards. Any projects that are underway would obviously be grandfathered.”

The overlay district standards, in place for more than 10 years since being recommended in the city’s 2008 Comprehensive Plan, aim to create consistency along the entire Beach Express.