The White Rock Lake Light Controversy

Thursday night at Winfrey Point

7:00 - We arrived a little late, but the city's electrical engineer was giving an overview of the lighting systems and how/why they were chosen.

A little background: the lights in question are 20-foot tall, 60-foot spaced (thanks for the correction on this, Chip) lights that are designed to provide lighting to low-light areas around White Rock Lake. Residents, and other interested parties are concerned that there are too many lights and that the "light pollution" will destroy the nighttime beauty of the lake.

The engineer is explaining that there is a 1-foot-candle requirement for lighting at the lake. There is also, apparently, a security issue driving the lights. Exactly what security issue there is, has not been defined.

All the press is here. So this is going to be well covered at 10:00 tonight.

One resident noted: "there is a nationwide movement against putting lights" in certain areas. As to the security issue, he noted "lights don't make me feel any safer."

Up now: Chief Easterling who is "committed to safety" around White Rock Lake.

"The lake is a very safe place to come, by and large."

As far as the lighting goes, "lighting does help with increasing safety."

One person asked "what crime are we seeing late at night that these lights are going to change."

Easterling admitted that the crimes occurred mainly during daylight hours and were primarily vehicle burglaries.

We asked what metrics were used to determine why these lights needed to be placed. Easterling referred us to the city's enginners who, apparently, made the decisions to buy and deploy expensive lights.

"I don't think that anyone has said that the lighting would reduce crime," added Easterling.

We haven't even been able to ask the question as to whether there is a less-expensive alternative to the solution being proposed.

One man noted that there have been recent studies from the Department of Justice saying that lighting is inconclusive with respect to crime-fighting value. "Some cities are even turning off lights." (more information at this link)

"It didn't help Northpark," added one woman, "and it's fully lit."

But, as one of the engineers noted, if you choose to light a parking lot, there are standards to which the city must adhere.

One resident (an expert) is talking about putting up thermal imaging to video the park in lieu of lighting.

The issues really boil down to:

• Light pollution - What will the lighting actually do to the lake?
• Environmental impact - Has there been a study?
• Crime - Do lights really reduce crime, and what supporting evidence is there?
• Alternatives - Are there any?

So are there going to be lights in places other than the parking lots such as on the trails?

"Not after tonight, I don't think so," answered one of the city staffers.

It ended with Sheffie Kadane agreeing to work on a master plan for the lighting around White Rock Lake.

But this story is still developing!

Original story:

For neighbors living around White Rock Lake, their nighttime view of the lake (as well as a quiet moonlit evening) may soon be history.

Dallas has begun installing security lights in parking lots and on the East side of the lake.

So, who pushed the new security lights to soon ring White Rock Lake? Turns out, it may be a slick sales job by a lighting contractor and may cost millions after new wiring is run to power the 90-100 lights planned for installation in the next couple of years.

According to Chip Northrup, this is basically "a case of a consultant to Parks writing themselves into a bond issue - as a vendor."

Read the Story at the Dallas Observer