DarkSky Virginia leads formation of the Virginia Responsible Streetlighting Coalition
In fall 2024, news traveled through the light pollution grapevine that LED streetlight conversions in Norfolk and Charlottesville were not getting a warm reception. In Norfolk, the grassroots group Citizens for Responsible Lighting (CRL) had formed in response to the intense glare and overwhelming brightness of a full scale conversion underway. CRL--through determination, inexhaustible community outreach, and collaboration with city officials---built support for an extended pause on the conversion and for their participation in an alternative path forward. A slower and more piecemeal approach was playing out in Charlottesville, similar to those in Northern Virginia and in Staunton, where one-for-one replacements had been proving that there is no straightforward conversion from older technology to LED. All these localities had something in common: Their streetlighting comes from Dominion Energy because the localities are members of the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association, which negotiates multi-year contracts on behalf of Dominion.
Advocates from all these areas of Virginia (including representatives from Piedmont Dark Skies, DarkSky NOVA, the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, CRL, and Bird Safe Hampton Roads) joined together as VRSC and began the work of advocating for change in Dominion Energy's lighting inventory, website, and process for providing street (and area) lighting to its service regions. An eight page policy memo kicked it off in February, and our calendars filled with meetings--including several with Dominion's lighting program managers and other staff. We benefited from technical assistance from lighting experts both within and beyond our group.
By July we had achieved tangible change: Dominion added 2700K options to several of their luminaire products. VRSC appreciates Dominion's responsiveness to one of many needed improvements. Dominion also planned for an initial pilot project using adaptive control for dimming that VRSC will be learning more about in an upcoming meeting. However, the Dominion catalog is still dominated by lighting that cannot meet the policies and standards underpinned by the Five Principles of Responsible Outdoor Lighting--including some of the most polluting of luminaire designs--and its website fails to provide resources essential for informed decision-making. There are abundant opportunities to advance the quality of streetlighting that in turn can serve as a model for other sectors.
In addition to vastly expanding our technical knowledge of lighting with input from national leaders in lighting policy and design, our team's experience this year has led to a much better understanding of VEPGA's role. Our team is also providing resources for VEPGA members who wish to encourage the inclusion of streetlighting quality in VEPGA's contract negotiations with Dominion that are currently underway. If you would like to know more, please email me at Virginia@darksky.org. You can find out if your locality is a VEPGA member here.
Education and Outreach
· In July, three members of VRSC presented to an audience of about 50 Virginia planners at the three day conference of the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association in Portsmouth. Laura Greenleaf (that's me) and Sara Hollberg of Staunton (a professional land use planner) provided a two-part presentation and were joined by Liz Paiste of Norfolk's Citizens for Responsible Lighting for a local grassroots perspective.
· Other presentations of mine this year included an online presentation to Wild Virginia and the honor of being the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Bull Run Mountain Conservancy.
· Norfolk's Citizens for Responsible Lighting surely broke a record for number of community events, reaching every city neighborhood with the message that quality outdoor lighting matters for everyone.
Piedmont Dark Skies
Based in Charlottesville but including the surrounding counties, Piedmont Dark Skies reflects the best of local organizing by caring individuals deeply invested in their communities. Organizer Christine Putnam holds monthly meetings and leads initiatives that this year included:
· An IDSW proclamation from the Albermarle County Board of Supervisors;
· Inclusion of strong dark skies and lighting language in Albermarle County's Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan language is an essential building block for good ordinances in Virginia). You can find the excerpts and link to the full plan here: Albermarle Co Comp Plan Advances Responsible Lighting Goals;
· Participation in VRSC, which has led to Charlottesville being the first municipal customer for Dominion's new 2700K streetlights (at the lowest available lumens);
· Group efforts to measure sky brightness and on-the-ground light levels; and
· Outreach, including to local birding clubs.
DarkSky Virginia joins the Paris Mountain Alliance to Protect a Conservation Priority
DarkSky Virginia is among the 18 local and regional groups belonging to the Paris Mountain Alliance, formed this fall to oppose a proposed high-end resort development on 150 acres of the Blue Ridge--just above Sky Meadows State Park, one of Virginia's five Dark Sky Parks, and near the Appalachian Trail corridor. The southeastern slope of Paris Mountain overlooks the state and national Crooked Run Valley Rural Historic District. Public lands and private land conservation come together here to protect a treasured historic landscape. The location of the proposed development encompasses sensitive steep slopes, core forest habitat, a critical wildlife corridor, and already overtaxed water resources. DarkSky Virginia shares the Alliance's position that this is a place deserving of conservation (with no presence of artificial light at night)--not development that the community does not want and that would do irreparable ecological damage. (Note that DarkSky VA is a local, independent organization and does not represent DarkSky International in this capacity.)
Did you know . . .
In 2025 the Town of Vienna in Northern Virginia contracted with Clanton and Associates to rewrite the lighting components of their zoning ordinance. The work is complete and we are awaiting an update on passage of the ordinance. You can see Vienna's and Clanton and Associates' public-facing information on the initiative here: Outdoor Lighting Regulations | Town of Vienna, VA
What else? DarkSky Virginia continues to serve as a trustworthy resource on light pollution and responsible outdoor lighting policies, practices, and standards for individuals, communities, local officials, and organizations across the commonwealth. In 2025 we expanded our partnerships and we are looking forward to making the most of them to help support local planners, officials, and advocates move toward better lighting for Virginia's communities.
