Save the Night | Be the Solution, Stop Light Pollution
The Goal
The decorative, historic-style streetlights in Sconset must be replaced with fixtures that are more dark-sky and neighbor friendly to meet the requirements of Nantucket's Outdoor Lighting Bylaw, as amended May 2023.
To facilitate the replacement of the ones owned by the Town of Nantucket as soon as possible, the Sconset Civic Association and the Sconset Trust have both pledged to donate $20,000 ($40,000 combined) of the $60,000 needed to purchase Dark Sky fixtures. But these are challenge grants! Their donations are conditioned on the remaining $20,000 that’s needed being donated by Sconset community members.
Please consider donating to meet this challenge!
- Your gift would be to the Town of Nantucket, not Nantucket Lights.
- Your donation would help with the purchase of the fixtures only. The cost of installation would be paid for by the Town.
- If not enough money is raised, or the Select Board votes to not accept the gifts for some reason, your check would be voided.
Anatomy of a Dark Sky Decorative Streetlight
To meet the requirements of the Outdoor Lighting Bylaw, streetlights must be 2700K or less in color temperature and must have a "BUG" rating that doesn't exceed B1-U0-G1. That means it must have Zero uplighting and minimal backlighting and glare.
The way one manufacturer — Spring City — meets those requirements is explained in this image. The most noticeable difference is that there are no vertical glass panes to reflect the light upward and outward. This also means no glass to clean or no glass to replace if it breaks!
See below for an example of a Spring City Dark Sky fixture installed in Sconset by a homeowners association.
Dark Sky Fixture vs Existing Non-Compliant Fixture
The photo on the left is of a Spring City Dark Sky fixture installed at the corner of Clifton and Towaddy by the Sankaty Village Homeowners Association.
The photo on the right is of a streetlight in the park beside the Sconset Market that isn't compliant with the Outdoor Lighting Bylaw and, like the other decorative streetlights in Sconset owned by the Town, must be replaced by Jan. 1, 2029, to comply with the bylaw.
As you can see, the Dark Sky fixture shines light only where it's needed and doesn't produce as much glare.
These photos show the Spring City Dark Sky fixture and an existing non-compliant fixture during the day. The Dark Sky fixture is virtually identical in style.
There are a few decorative streetlights in Sconset that are like the ones on Main Street in Town, with a round globe instead of vertical panes. The proposal is to replace those with the colonial style fixture (shown here) so that all the decorative streetlights in Sconset are the same type.
Cobra Head Streetlights
This initiative does not include making the "cobra head" streetlights on utility poles more dark-sky and neighbor friendly. These are owned by National Grid and have to be dealt with separately. In the meantime, if one of these is shining into your home, you can request that a shield be added by emailing Lauren Sinatra (lsinatra@nantucket-ma.gov), the Town's liaison with National Grid.
Do you want to help preserve Nantucket's dark skies?
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