Outdoor lighting task force seeks opinions
By Gregg MacDonald
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (D) has re-established an outdoor lighting task force to address streetlight concerns within her district, particularly in Reston.An original task force was created in 1983, which five years later led to the “Reston Streetlight Demonstration Project,” a pilot program that Hudgins last week said “has probably outlasted its time.”
On May 5, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to more than triple the limit of streetlights in the Reston project from 76 to 350.
Last Thursday, Hudgins hosted a community meeting on outdoor lighting to gain direction from her constituents for the placement of additional outdoor lighting in Reston, including areas that have developed since the project's implementation in1988.
“People say Reston is dark, which is a good thing in some respects and not in others,” Hudgins said at the meeting.
“Most lights are currently in the northern end of Reston,” added Milton Matthews, CEO of the Reston Association. “The southern community has very few lights – Glade Drive, for example, is very dark. My No. 1 concern about lighting is equating a lack of street lighting with a lack of safety. Darkness can hinder the effectiveness of the police department.”
“It just isn't true,” boomed Reston resident Chris Walker, a member of the International Dark Sky Association. “Reston has the worst of all possible policies and they are not working,” he said as he stood up at the meeting.
Walker, who opposes additional street lighting in Reston, continued to speak while standing, telling Hudgins, Matthews and Fairfax County Master Police Officer Chip Cogan that low-ambient lighting with motion detectors “is the best way to go” for crime prevention.
“Reston's policy should be to light intersections and crosswalks only,” he said.
“We appreciate the trees and the woods and the spirit of Reston,” answered Sarah Fershee of the Marco Cluster off Glade Drive. “But there is lots of movement at night by people who do not live in our cluster. We are concerned for our safety.”
“What you need to ask is what you are trying to achieve with more lighting,” Cogan said. “There might be better ways to achieve those goals in other ways.”
Reston residents interested in joining the outdoor lighting task force are encouraged to call Hudgins at 703-478-0283. The next meeting of the task force has not yet been announced.