moon phases

Neil Wendt

I received an email notice from Kevin Kilkenny yesterday afternoon, 5/15/01, about a Lebanon Township Committee meeting that would discuss the construction of a Sunoco gas station/convenience store about 2 miles north of the observatory on rt 513. With thoughts of the horrible Hess gas station on Rt 31 in my mind I contacted the Mayor of Lebanon Township, Eileen Swan, to request the opportunity to speak at the meeting if I was able to get there that night. I called home to see what our evening plans were, and learned that I would have time to attend the meeting. Once home I went to work gathering some documentation to present to the committee. Documentation included copies of Holophane luminaire designs - good and bad - and a synopsis of the NJ Light Pollution Study Commission report. Since I didn't have much time and was told by the mayor that comments should focus on the lighting issues pertaining to the gas station, I felt this documentation was appropriate.

I got to the meeting at 7:30pm, the meeting was already in progress. Just as I sat down the committee chair anounced that the next order of business would the review of the application by Mohawk Oil to develop the property on rt 513 into a gas station/convenience store. Talk about timing and luck! I was able to hear the proposal by Mohawk Oil for the existing gas station property. The attorney and an engineer for Mohawk Oil presented their revised plans (this was their 2nd presentation to the committee) for the property, during which the committee provided questions and comment. My overall impression of the committees sentiment was that they were unhappy with the revised plans for the property. It appeared that Mohawk Oil was trying to "fill a 4 pound bag with 6 pounds of sugar" to quote one committee member. I will say that the lighting plans did not appear to be too bad for the property. The canopy over the proposed 6 pumps would have all recessed lighting. Light poles would use vertical box lights with recessed bulbs, similar to the Mirro-safe model by Holophane. Wall pack units were not mentioned. In fact, one Sunoco engineer actually even mentioned light pollution, light spillage, and glare!!! I was surprised. Nonetheless, the committee was very concerned about the development of the land and impact on traffic flow, property setback issues, signage, and the large number of variances that Mohawk Oil was requesting. The committee chair indicated that the committee would be willing to vote tonight on the proposal, but that the outcome may not be favorable to Mohawk Oil, and suggested that Mohawk return in several weeks weith a modified proposal.

Before moving onto the next order of business, I raised my hand to request comment from the public regarding the gas station proposal. The Mohawk Oil attorney welcomed the input, and the committee chair recognized my request to speak. I approached the table, stated my name and affiliation (NJAA, of course!!), and our concerns regarding the impact of potential light pollution from the proposal. I briefly discussed the economic, safety, environmental, and aesthetic impacts of bad lighting. I mentioned the lighting ordinance developed by Clinton Township. It turned out that one of the Lebanon Township committee members indicated he was directly responsible for the creation of the Clinton Township lighting ordinance. Thank-you Lord!!! I passed out the synopsis of the NJLPSC report and copies of Holophane lighting examples while discussing the relationship between NJDOT and Holophane.

The committee was "somewhat sympathetic" to my concerns, with a mixed response from committee members. While the Mayor and others on the committee appeared interested (the Mayor asking specifically for IESNA web page address, which I provided), some others were outright negative about considering a lighting ordinance, for reasons I was unaware of. However, the committee appears to be very concerned about preserving the rural atmosphere and flavor of the township, and having a board member who helped develop the Clinton Township lighting ordinance is a major plus for the board. After my presentation I invited board members to the observatory that night to get an understanding of light pollution issues that we deal with by "seeing it themselves". Unfortunately, nobody came. I hope to continue to work with the Lebanon Township Committee as developments occur, or to provide any input when requested pertaining to lighting in general and specifically to lighting impacts on the NJAA observatory.

As to the status of the Sunoco gas station; Mohawk Oil will come back with modifications to their proposal, the board will review it for a third time and probably put the proposal to a vote. If the vote goes against the Mohawk proposal, the property will hopefully remain undeveloped. If the vote goes in favor, then we have another source of light pollution to deal with, but a very controlled source, which hopefully will have negligible impact on the observatory. Stay tuned for future developments, and lets all work to reduce light pollution in our own neighborhoods!