Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 1716 - zoning; outdoor lighting City of West University Place Harris County, Texas Ordinance No. 1716 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS REGARDING OUTDOOR LIGHTING; AND CONTAINING FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT. WHEREAS, the City Council and the Zoning & Planning Commission ("Z&PC") of the City of West University Place, Texas (UCity") have held a joint public hearing on a proposal to amend the Zoning Ordinance of the City, as last re-formatted and re- adopted by Ordinance No. 1672, adopted March 12, 2001 (UZon ing Ord inancen); WHEREAS, the Z&PC has made a final report to the City Council with respect to such proposal, which report is attached as Exhibit A and made a part of this ordinance; and WHEREAS, the City Council has considered the report of the Z&PC and now formally approves and adopts it; and WHEREAS, all notices, hearings and procedures relating to amending the Zoning Ordinancet as may be required by law, the City Charter or the Zoning Ordinance, have been duly given, held and followed, and the City Council has jurisdiction to amend the Zoning Ordinance as provided herein; NOW, TI-IEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE: Section 1. The City Council officially finds, determines, declares and adopts all of the matters set out in the preamble of this ordinance, and the Zoning Ordinance is hereby amended as follows: (1) Section 8-1 07 is amended to read in its entirety as set out below: Section 8-107. Outdoor Lighting (a) Intent. The intent of this section is to require outdoor lighting to use \\full cut-offn "fixtures, low-output bulbs, shields or other "methods to redu.ce light trespass, glare and light po.l1ution and to encourage energy conservation. (b) .In general. Any "lighting device installed outdoors (or on the exterior of a structure) must be designed, constructed and operated so that the bulb or light source (diffused or not) is not visible from within a door or window of an occupied building on another building site used for residential purposes. ( c) Certain defenses. It is an affinnative defense to prosecution under th is section that the device "in question is: ( 1 ) a streetlight approved by the City; (2) an official traffic light or signal; (3) an emergency light used telnporarily (not longer than the etnergency conditions invo lved); (4) a decorative holiday light used temporarily (not lTIOre than 45 days out of any 365-day period); (5) a security light requested or consented to by the current owner of (or person in control of) the building (on another building site) that is il1wninated; (6) a Ugh t located in a front yard or street side yard (or on a bui I din g facing su eh a yard), if: (i) all the lights in--or facing--that yard elnit, in the aggregate) no more than 4,000 IUfnens, and (ii) no .individual bulb in--or facing--that yard em.its lnore than 1,000 lUlnens; or (7) a devi.ce illuJninating a sports fie.ld. (2) In Section 12-103(i), the PNC item entitled "High output lighting devices in violation of Article 811 (in the chart) is amended to read UOutdoor lighting in violation of Article 8, It and the corresponding time period is amended to read "Time period end ing on August 31, 2004." (3) In Article 2, the definition of Uhigh-output lighting device" is deleted. Section 2. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict only. Section 3. If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall ever be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, neither the remainder of this ordinance, nor the application of such word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this ordinance to any other persons or circumstances, shall be affected thereby. Section 4. The City Council officially finds, determines and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of each meeting at which this ordinance was discussed, considered or acted upon was given in the manner required by the Texas Open Meetings Act, as amended, and that each such meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during such discussion, consideration and action. The City Council ratifies, approves and confirms such notices and the contents and posting thereof. The City Council officially finds, determines and declares that sufficient notices of the joint public hearing were given, and the City Council ratifies, approves and confirms such notices, including the contents and the method in which they were givenw Section 5. This ordinance shall become effective on the tenth day following its publication, as provided in the City Charter. PASSED AND APPROVED on first reading on f4- ;:;"2-: ,2-c;o 2- Councilmembers Voting Aye: Councilmembers Voting No: Councilmembers Absent: PASSeD AND APPROVED on second reading on ~/~ I ~2- Councilmembers Voting Aye: Council members Voting No: Councilmembers Absent: Att Ci ecretary (Seal) -- ayor Reviewe~ City Attorney Recommended: Exhibit A Zoning & Planning Commission City of West University Place, Texas 3800 University Boulevard West University Place, Texas 77005 July 11r 2002 Honorable Mayor & Members of the City Council City of West University Place 3808 University Boulevard Houstonr Texas 77005 Subject: Final report on a revised proposal to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of West University Placer Texas ("Cityll) relating to outdoor lighting To the Honorable Mayor & Members of City Council: The Zoning & Planning Commission of the City submits this, its final report, on the subject proposal, for the assistance of the Council as well as other interested persons. Scope of Proposal. The proposal is to amend Section 8-107 to impose different restrictions upon outdoor lightingr as follows: The current ordinance regulates most lights emitting 1,800 lumens or more (about 100 watts incandescent) that "directly illuminate" other sites or buildings. The proposed ordinance would apply only to outdoor lights if "the bulb or light source" is visible from inside a neighboring residential building. Shields or "full cut- off" fixtures, for example, could be used to comply. The proposal would allow streetlightsr traffic lights and signals, temporary emergency lights, temporary holiday lights, security lights (if consented to) 1 yard or porch Jul 18 02 03:46p CDC Houston, Inc. ( (713) 658-1109 p.3 lights along the street (with limited light output) and sports field lights. Prior non-conforming lights would have to be brought into compliance within approximately 24 months~ See the attachment to this report for the exact wording. This proposal is submitted as a new, revised proposal to take the place of the amendment on the same subject submitted by the Commission last year. Proceedings. Pursuant to public notices, the Zoning & Planning Commission and the city Council held a joint public hearing in the Council Chamber of the Municipal Building. The hearing provided an opportunity for parties in interest and citizens to be heard in relation to the proposal. city staff provided input to the Commission. The Commission has reviewed the Comprehensive Plan. The Commission has considered all of this information, and now recommends the proposal, as amended and attached to this report. Recommendation. Based on the extensive review given this proposal, the Commission: (i) finds that the proposed amendmen-tsf if adopted, would be in the public interest and consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, (ii) finds that the proposed amendments reasonably address circumstances which have arisen since the last comprehensive revision of the zoning ordinance, (iii) makes its final recommendation favorable to the amendments, and (iii) recommends that the City Council adopt them, as amended_ The Vote. The vote on approval of this report was as follows: Commissioners Nelson, Yehle, Brown, Pohl voted ~aye;" no "noes; /I Commissioners Boucher and Whi tlock absent. Respectfully submitted: ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS By: ~!2i~~ Outdoor lighting ordinance as recommended by Z&PC 7-11-02 Amend Section 8-107 of the Zoning Ordinance to read in its entirety as follows: Section 8-1.07" Outdoor Lighting (a) Intent. The intent of th"js section is to require outdoor lighting to use \\full cut-off" fixtures, low-output bulbs, shields or other lnethods to reduce light trespass, glare and light pollution and to encourage energy con servati 0 n.. (b) In general. Any lighting device installed outdoors (or on the exterior of a structure) must be designed, constructed and operated so that the bulb or light source (diffused or not) is not visible froln within a door or window of an occupied building on another bunding site used for residential purposes~ (c) Certain defenses. It "is an affinnative defense to prosecution under this section that the device in question is: (1) a streetlight approved by the City; (2) an official traffic .light or signal; (3) an elnergency light used temporarily (not Tonger than the emergency conditions in YO 1 ved); (4) a decorative holiday light used temporarily (not more than 45 days out of any 365-day period); (5) a security light requested or consented to by the current owner of (or person in control of) the building (on another building site) that is illulninated; (6) a light located in a front yard or street side yard (or on a building facing such a yard), if: (i) all the lights in--or facing--that yard emit, in the aggregate, no more than 4,000 lumens, and (ii) no individual bulb in--or facing--that yard eln its more than 1,000 lumens; or (7) a device illulninating a sports field. Notes.. .In Section 12-103 (i), the PN"C itelTI would be nOutdoor .lighting in violation of Article gu and the thne period would be a specified date (approximately 24 lTIonths foHowing the effective date of this new ord inance ) ~ The definition of "high-output 1 ighting devicell would be deleted froln Al1icle II.