Stow Lighting Page

This page contains information about outdoor lighting in Stow, Massachusetts.

Light Pollution Subcommittee of the Planning Board

Regular Meetings

The Light Pollution Subcommittee of the Stow Planning Board generally meets on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 7 p.m. in Town Building. The public is welcome to attend.

Meetings are currently scheduled in 2007 for May 2. Town meeting is scheduled for May 7, May 8, and May 9 if needed. See the message board outside Town building for up-to-date meeting notices.

Fixtures

A separate page contains information on fixtures and where to find them.

Recommendations

A separate page contains recommendations for lighting-related mitigating conditions and good outdoor lighting practice.

Committee Activities

Present activities include bylaw revisions and sign lighting bylaw compliance. Past activities include a booth at Springfest 2003, a lecture sponsored by SCT, a public hearing, and working with the Planning Board to suggest lighting-related mitigating conditions for special permits and variances.

Reaching the Committee

To reach the committee, you can send email to stow-lighting@list.lexort.com, or physical mail care of the Stow Planning Board, 380 Great Road, Stow, MA 01775. Or, attend one of the committee's public meetings.

Photographs of Lighting in Stow

All of the images on this website are available via the top-level images page.

The committee has taken both ground and aerial (August 31, 2003) photographs.

Selected aerial images of Stow have been organized for easier viewing. An image of the plaza (7744) appeared in the September 26, 2003 edition of "The Stow Paper".

Other subalbums have pictures of Maynard, Bolton, Hudson and Marlboro. Many of these are somewhat or even extremely blurry, but they are still useful for identifying lights that shine up into the sky. The aerial images were taken on August 31, 2003 from about 8:19 pm to 8:40 pm.

The site also has images of fixtures and committee activities.


Documents

One member wrote a lighting terminology guide.


Web Resources

Local Light Pollution in the News

Boxborough installs a streetlight, but considers light pollution.
Minuteman Airfield proposes landing lights on conservation property
projo article on RI light pollution

Lighting Committees in neighboring towns

Acton Outdoor Lighting Advisory Committee

National and Local Organizations

International Dark-Sky Association

New England Light Pollution Advisory Group

NEW HAMPSHIRE CITIZENS for RESPONSIBLE LIGHTING (NHCRL)

Light Pollution Information

MCI Shirley causes much light pollution, but a new prison in Springfield, Vermont has low-pollution lighting.

Model ordinances

This section is merely a collection of links to pages that may be interesting.

VOLT model ordinance

Surveys

Star counting

Images of Earth at night

DMSP mosaic Another DMSP mosaic


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