13th & Harvard McDonalds

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by PonderInc

I drove by this McDonalds today.  It was overcast and the lights were on during the day.  They were BLINDING!  At noon!  Looking at them hurt my eyes as I drove down Harvard!  I don't know why they need bulbs this bright...and the angle of the light fixtures is ridiculous.

McDonalds began installing trespass shields on some of their floodlights this week, and I must say the difference is quite dramatic.

They missed a few, but they have gone from being an egregiously contemptible zoning violation to a more run-of-the mill one.
(Hint:  The floodlights farthest from the R district may not have seemed that important, but they are pointed directly at the R district and still an in-your-face nuisance).

Their choice of 1,000-watt floodlights just makes the task of compliance  all the more difficult (would have just been easier to scrap the floodlights for something designed for use near a neighborhood, and back off the watts to something more sane) but they may have been testing the waters for future designs.

quote:Do lighting ordinances fall under the comprehensive plan?  If so, we need to make sure the city includes lighting guidelines in the new CP.  I was just in Austin a few weeks ago, and it was refreshing to be in a city with an obvious understanding of the importance of smart lighting!

If hospitals can design safe outdoor lighting that even the visually impaired could benefit from, then there's simply no excuse for hiding behind bogus "safety" claims when businesses resort to Moth-Effect Marketing to dazzle customers at the neighborhood's expense.

[SoonerRiceGrad]

I have never seen lights that bright before except on gamedays in Norman.

It's like putting Gaylord Memorial Stadium in the middle of Florence Park. It's insane.

[patric]

I promised a follow-up when Neighborhood Inspections made McDonalds add some shields to their horrific floodlights.
Here's some before and after photos:



.
and another view
.



Since McDonalds started with notoriously hard-to-control floodlights, their "after" photos might look like another area's "before" photo, but at least it's a step in the right direction.  (Shoebox-style lights would have been easier to tame, as would using something considerably less than 10 1,000-watt Metal Halide glare bombs).  

Since this seems to be the cookie-cutter model for all the McDonalds makeovers, does anyone want to take bets that they repeat this violation all over town?  

As for safety -- with any luck the neighbors might be able to step off their porches without being blinded.

[janle]

It is good they got something done. The urgent care centers (yes both St John and MedCenter) on Utica is also intolerable. Why don't these builders read the zoning codes?

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by janle

It is good they got something done. The urgent care centers (yes both St John and MedCenter) on Utica is also intolerable. Why don't these builders read the zoning codes?

I looked at the MedCenter last week at the request of a neighborhood association, and even though they fail the 1303c zoning law it's apparent they made the effort from the start, in stark contrast to McDonalds where it is apparent they ignored zoning until there were complaints.

MedCenter's goof stems from the placement of fixtures too close to the property line with too little house-side shielding.  They could either  add more shielding, reduce pole height (and wattage proportionately) move the fixtures away from the property line, or replace them with shielded bollards.  In all cases they should re-evaluate their wattage.

A better model is just down the street at 19th & Utica at the J.A. Chapman Tower at St. John Medical Center.  On that corner alone you find several good examples of shielded outdoor lighting.      

It should be mentioned that, other than the perimeter lights and unnecessarily high levels, MedCenter did a decent job.
You only have to look to the property just to the north for a really bad example of utility-installed glare and nuisance lighting that is a much more egregious zoning violation.