Breckenridge residents and businesses have spent months replacing noncompliant lighting to meet the town’s Dark Sky standards. 

Now the town plans to finish upgrading its own streetlights, too. 

At a work session Tuesday, June 9, Breckenridge Town Council members voiced support for converting 365 of the town’s streetlights a year earlier than originally planned. The move shifts roughly $1.1 million in planned spending for the 2027-28 fiscal year into the current budget. 

Council member Steve Gerard said he’s repeatedly heard local residents complaining about why they’re being asked to comply with Dark Sky requirements while some town-owned lighting remains out of compliance.

“The people that I talk to at the Rec Center come up to me and (say) they’re complying with Dark Sky, and they’re mad that the town doesn’t have to do its own,” Gerard said. “I think we need to own it, and get our town stuff (into compliance), too, as quickly as we can.”

The town began enforcing Dark Sky regulations in January. Since, the town has issued over 420 violation letters and around eight citations to noncompliant properties, according to planning staff records. Last month, staff had identified around 304 properties that remain noncompliant, with additional notices slated to be sent. 

James Phelps, public works director, said the accelerated timeline would allow the town to demonstrate its commitment to the same standards it has been enforcing for homeowners and businesses. 

“We’re looking for our constituents and our business partners to conform to Dark Sky standards,” Phelps said. 

The town first adopted its exterior lighting ordinance in 2007 as part of a broader effort to reduce light pollution. Three years ago, after a local resident urged Breckenridge town officials to pursue formal certification through DarkSky International, council directed staff to move forward with the effort, including the development of a five-year plan for converting municipal streetlights to meet Dark Sky regulations. Last August, Breckenridge became the first mountain resort community in Colorado to receive DarkSky International Certification. As of last month, staff estimated that 83% of over 2,700 properties surveyed earlier this year have met compliance with Dark Sky requirements.

Since 2024, public works staff have replaced around 714 streetlights, retrofitted with Dark Sky-compliant fixtures. Phelps said the overall project cost has fallen below initial estimates. In 2023, staff estimated replacing town-owned streetlights would cost around $3.6 million. But Phelps said public works staff have since worked to avoid inflation-related price increases and tariff impacts, reducing the total projected cost to roughly $2.9 million. 

The Dark Sky certification process only requires Breckenridge to bring streetlights under municipal control into compliance. However, Phelps has identified an additional 167 streetlights owned by Xcel Energy, mostly located in the Highlands neighborhood, that remain out of compliance with Dark Sky standards. Phelps said multiple Highlands residents have expressed the desire to convert those Xcel-owned lights as part of the town’s program. 

“The town would also prefer to have the lights in control of the town for conversion and more favorable financial rates,” Phelps wrote in a memo sent to town staff. 

Phelps estimated converting the 167 lights would cost an additional $300,000, if an agreement can be reached with the utility. 

But both Phelps and council member Marika Page said negotiations with Xcel over the last few years have proved difficult. 

Gerard said he remembered a time when Xcel representatives seemed more willing to work with the town on lighting issues. 

“I think James (Phelps) is being very thoughtful in his approach to this conversation,” Page said in response to Gerard’s comment. 

Page said the utility company has repeatedly rejected Dark Sky-compliant lighting packages proposed by the town because they don’t align with Xcel’s internal design standards. 

“They won’t approve of a Dark Sky lighting package,” Page said. “We’re going to continue to have that conversation with them, but it’s been very difficult to move the needle.”

Phelps added that town staff continue to discuss replacement options with Xcel and that he expects to meet with representatives again at an upcoming Colorado Municipal League meeting. 

Gerard suggested a possible compromise using lighting shields, or metal covers that partially block and redirect rays of light. Gerard recalled one home in the Highlands area where a streetlight illuminated the side of a newly constructed house, including bedrooms used by children. He said town staff eventually installed a partial shield to redirect the light away from the home. He asked whether similar retrofits could provide a faster and less expensive path toward compliance for the remaining 167 Xcel-owned lights. 

Phelps said staff could evaluate that option but cautioned that shielding the fixtures wouldn’t fully address the issue. Many of Xcel’s streetlights are older, high-pressure sodium fixtures that consume significantly more energy than modern LED replacements, he said. Converting them would both meet Dark Sky compliance and improve energy efficiency. 

“It would only get us halfway to where we really want to go,” Phelps said. 

Council member Dick Carleton asked whether accelerating the municipal lighting project would create any staffing challenges for the public works department. 

Phelps said staff have already identified a contractor willing to take on the additional work and that town employees may also have the opportunity to assist with portions of the project later this year.

Council members ultimately backed the accelerated conversion schedule. 

More information on the town’s Dark Sky exterior lighting regulations can be found on the Breckenridge Community Development website.