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Letter to the editor: Breckenridge’s dark sky rules were too strict and rushed

Russ Trowbridge
Breckenridge

I agree with Frank Mason’s Dec. 10 letter on dark sky measures, but for other reasons.

I support the general objective of dark sky for our well-being and enjoyment — and for wildlife. But pressing forward with an artificial deadline to apply for certification needs serious tweaking. 

The Breckenridge Town Council should focus on establishing dark sky conditions instead of certification. There is an important distinction. Certification would give Breckenridge some bragging rights, but it wouldn’t increase tourism. The town has stopped the expansion of light pollution with the 2006 dark sky building standards. A secondary step could be a curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on unnecessary outdoor lighting, like those included in the 2023 legislation passed in Aspen and Grand Lake. That would resolve the bulk night predator and migratory bird issues.



International Dark Sky Community guidelines include a basic requirement under item 3) of “broad support for dark skies from a wide range of community organizations such as … electrical utilities … homeowners associations, and others.” Breckenridge falls well short on this because of broad opposition by homeowners who see certification as an unfunded and unsupported mandate by the town to meet a “feel good” objective. Of the 7,500 to 8,000 dwelling units in Breck, probably a majority of them were constructed before the current 2006 lighting standards and out of compliance. 

Aspen has addressed this outdoor compliance issue by requiring that any outdoor lights replaced after December 2023 (when the update went into effect) need to be compliant. But they do not need to be replaced until they are unusable.



Adjusting the implementation of dark sky objectives along these lines could likely win strong support. It is hard to argue that since there have never been arbitrary deadlines set to require homes to address critical issues such as lead, asbestos and radon, how does Dark Sky compliance trigger a response this urgent?


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