§ 18.30.135 Lighting | Olathe Unified Development Ordinance

18.30.135 Lighting

Parking areas with more than twenty (20) parking spaces must have exterior lighting for nighttime illumination that complies with this section.

1. Lighting used to illuminate parking areas must be arranged, located, shielded or screened to direct light away from any adjoining or abutting residential district or any street right-of-way.

2. Exterior lighting must not be provided solely by building-mounted light fixtures. Where used, the building-mounted fixtures must be located where not visible from street right-of-way or residential properties. Any building-mounted light fixtures, landscape lighting or other outdoor light fixtures for aesthetic purposes will be identified on any site development plan.

1. The following lighting standards apply to building-mounted lighting and lighting cast on buildings or signs, not including agricultural, single-family detached residential, and two-family residential building types as defined in Section 18.15.020.G.

a. Exterior building-mounted lighting must be LED type (light produced via light emitting diodes) of a soft-white or bright-white light color and quality.

b. Light fixtures must be up-cast or downcast in nature and must possess sharp, cut-off qualities to limit off-site glare. Light cast onto a building or sign must not shine past the wall plane. Exceptions may be made by the Approving Authority for decorative wall sconce type light fixtures.

c. Illuminated banding, illuminated translucent panels, exposed neon, exposed lightbulbs (including LED bulbs), permanent string lights, and similar exterior building lighting are prohibited unless approved by the Approving Authority.

1. All light fixtures, for general area lighting, must be full cut-off type fixtures, which do not produce any light above 90 degrees from nadir (nadir being the angle pointing directly downward from the luminaire or fixture), equipped with flat lenses; and with fixed, nonadjustable, mounting arms or brackets. Light fixtures for landscaping lighting and decorative building lighting may allow light above 90 degrees from nadir.

2. The style of light poles and fixtures must highlight, complement, and reinforce landscape and architectural design as focal points of interest. However, all multi-family and non-residential sites within the “Original Town” Overlay District, where a parking area or lot is part of a redevelopment for a final site development plan as approved by the Planning Commission, must have antique globe/coach style light poles and fixtures as approved by the Planning Official. The following actions are exempt from installing such style light poles and fixtures of parking areas or lots for redevelopment: a parking lot permit not part of a new final site development plan approval, administrative review process, routine maintenance, existing site light pole and fixture consistency, and those situations deemed approved by the Planning Official.

3. Parking lot poles and light fixtures must maintain the same style, height, and color and intensity of lighting throughout the development area. Varying styles of light fixtures are permitted if it is demonstrated that the styles contribute to an overall theme for the area.

4. The maximum overall height of light fixtures is:

a. 30 feet for commercial shopping centers, individual nonresidential businesses and uses, multi-family developments, and office parks, and

b. 20 feet when the uses listed above are located adjacent to residential development.

5. Concrete pedestals/bases must not exceed three (3) feet in height and must be included in the maximum overall light pole height.

6. Non-residential parking lots that are located between the principal buildings and the street, or adjacent to a residential zoning district, must have their lighting levels for surface parking lots and the top levels of parking decks and structures reduced from full lighting operational levels after close of business or activity hours.

7. Acceptable lamp types include solar powered fixtures, LED fixtures, pulse-start metal halide, ceramic metal halide, fluorescent, or high-pressure sodium.

8. Light sources must have a minimum value of 60 CRI (Color Rendering Index).

Illumination levels for outdoor lighting foot-candle values indicated below are measured at grade, and based upon a photoelectric (photopic) photometer having a spectral response similar to that of the human eye, following the standard spectral luminous efficiency curve adopted by the International Commission on Illumination (C.I.E.).

Parking Lots:	• Average Maintained Foot-candles (maximum) for all parking lots is three (3) foot-candles. The minimum average maintained foot-candles is one (1). The average maintained foot-candles must be calculated at not greater than 0.75 of initial foot-candles. The approving authority may approve maintenance factors above 0.75 if the applicant submits documentation that those values achieve a level of security and compatibility with surrounding land use, or are consistent with subsection F below.
	• Minimum Foot-candles and Uniformity Ratio: The minimum amount of maintained illumination for open parking areas must be arranged in order to provide at least 0.20 foot-candles and uniform illumination throughout the parking lot of up to a 5:1 ratio of average to minimum illumination and up to a 15:1 ratio of maximum to minimum.
	• The maximum maintained vertical foot-candle at an adjacent residential property line must be one-half (½) foot-candle measured three (3) feet above grade and facing into the project site.
Pedestrian Walkways, Paths and Plazas:	Areas of pedestrian activity within a parking lot as designated on the final site development plan (i.e. sidewalks, crosswalks, seating, building entrances/exits, plazas) must maintain a minimum one (1) foot-candle minimum average.

1. A photometric plan with point-by-point calculations showing compliance with the parking lot and building lighting standards is required with all final site development plans. The calculation must be measured at grade. The photometric plan must include:

a. All structure(s), parking spaces, building entrances, traffic areas (both vehicular and pedestrian),

b. Vegetation that might interfere with lighting,

c. Adjacent uses that might be adversely impacted by the lighting,

d. A layout of all proposed fixtures by location, orientation, aiming direction, mounting height and type, and

e. All other exterior lighting including but not limited to architectural, building-entrance, landscaping, flag, accent, etc.).

2. A cut sheet of the proposed light fixtures, including the light fixtures candlepower distribution curve, must be submitted for light fixtures abutting residential properties.

The approving authority may modify any of the standards in this section if the applicant obtains LEED certification and provides a lighting plan that addresses the following:

1. Light pollution reductions that eliminate light trespass from the building and site by improving night sky access and by the reducing the development’s impact on the natural environment;

2. Fundamental building lighting systems that verify and ensure that fundamental building elements are designed, installed and calibrated to operate as intended;

3. Minimum lighting energy performance that meets either local energy code requirements or the federal energy code;

4. Lighting materials and resources that are extracted and manufactured within the region, thereby supporting the regional economy and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation;

5. Indoor environmental lighting quality that provides a high level of thermal, ventilation, and lighting systems control by individual occupants or specific groups in multi-occupant spaces;

6. Lighting for the building occupants with a connection between indoor spaces and the outdoors through the introduction of daylight and views into the regularly occupied areas of the building; and

7. If applicable, any innovations that add to the visual quality and compatibility of the building and site. (Ord. 19-74 § 5, 2019)