Town Meeting members dim the lights
The window accent lighting bylaw, which evolved out of a broader bylaw shot down by Town Meeting members in June, was approved by Town Meeting members Tuesday night.
During the spring Town Meeting, the bylaw inspired 40 minutes of discussion. At fall Town Meeting, it passed without incident.
The original bylaw presented to Town Meeting members last spring was an attempt to regulate bright signs that could potentially distract drivers. Some last minute amendments to the bylaw confused voters and it was struck down.
The newly passed bylaw focuses on window accent lighting exclusively. Town Administrator David Cressman said that the adjustments were a result of a committee of town officials, business owners and community members.
“As a result of those discussions, we came to support a bylaw that’s before you tonight. It is a general bylaw, not a zoning bylaw,” said Cressman.
“The focus is on window accent lighting. The group decided that was the public safety concern and that was the issue we were going to address. Any other issues concerning signs that was something that was going to be addressed by the Planning Board through a zoning bylaw,” he said.
Window accent lighting that would be in violation of the bylaw would have to be more than 150 foot candles, a measurement of light, at the source when read by a light meter. Violations come with a $300 fine.