Oak Bay plans to replace the streetlights in Uplands as part of the sewer separation project currently underway. Oak Bay council has decided that the new lights will be similar to the 100-year-old globe lights currently in place that send light in all directions, contrary to Oak Bay’s Official Community Plan which calls for ‘dark sky compliant’ lighting.
It is ironic that the community that hosts the only urban star park on Canada’s west coast (Cattle Point) is most likely also the only community that is still installing non-dark-sky-compliant street lighting. The light sent up into the sky wastes electricity, limits the ability of citizens to enjoy the stars at night and interferes with the activities of nocturnal pollinators, other insects, and predators such as bats and owls.
The globe lights also fail to meet modern safety standards for glare and for the illumination of roads and sidewalks, putting pedestrians, cyclists and drivers at increased risk. The streetlights shine into residents’ living areas where trespass light is not wanted. Despite these concerns, Oak Bay council has chosen, on ‘heritage’ grounds, to replace the existing globes with similar, but larger, globes, likely imposing the problems of the existing streetlights on Oak Bay citizens for another 100 years.
A better plan would be to follow the recommendation of the Oak Bay engineering department and install dark-sky-compliant lights, similar for example to the streetlights in Estevan. If you agree that Oak Bay is on the wrong track, and needs to respect its Official Community Plan, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation pedestrian walkway and street lighting guidelines and international norms for dark sky compliance when it replaces the streetlights in Uplands, please write to the Oak Bay mayor and council at obcouncil@oakbay.ca.
Tom Tiedje, Dave Robinson, Chris Garrett
Oak Bay
