Ypsilanti is beginning the process of transitioning to dark sky compliant lighting around the city with its new ordinance.
New lights installed in Ypsilanti will have a maximum temperature of 3000 Kelvin and covers to make them downward-facing.
Joshua Burns is the City of Ypsilanti’s Planner. He says the dark sky ordinance will reduce light pollution and restore the night sky. He says this effort will happen gradually with the ordinance focusing solely on replacing burnt-out lights with dark sky compliant ones.
“We didn’t particularly want to adopt an ordinance that would create a bunch of requirements for people to change their lighting immediately. That’s expensive, and it’s unrealistic.”
Burns says he encourages other communities around Ypsilanti to adopt similar ordinances to increase the area that’s environmentally friendly to nighttime wildlife.
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