Bridgeport Parks Commission Turns Down ‘Sensible Measure’ to Bring Smart Lighting to St Mary’s-By-The-Sea

Efforts to convince Bridgeport city leaders to dim the lights at St Mary’s-by-the-sea after dusk were turned down today at a Bridgeport Parks Commission meeting. Local residents, supported by the Ash Creek Conservation Association (ACCA), Lights Out Connecticut, and the DarkSky Association-CT, have been campaigning for the change for months.

Although the park closes at dusk, all 113 street lights are left on at the site around the clock, at considerable expense to city residents. The glare obliterates the night sky and creates light pollution (“light trespass”) and traffic safety issues, says local conservation groups.  

Peter Spain, a former Bridgeport City Council Representative who is been leading the Lights Out at St Mary’s campaign, remarked: “After four months of trying to get the city to do this in 2023, starting with my first letter to the Parks Commission in July to turn off the lights during bird-migration season (Aug 15 - Nov 15), I heard last night from the commission that they cannot approve this sensible measure.”

After initially welcoming the idea of turning off the park lights this summer to reduce nighttime disturbances, Police Chief Roderick Porter changed his stance and wrote in an e-mail last month: "That decision is solely up to the Parks Board and the Parks Department. We’ve shared our concerns, and will deal with any decision they make." Also, last month, the mayor told a constituent that he was awaiting Parks Commission approvals for reducing light hours in the park that closes at dusk.

To help the city find a workable solution, Spain requested an estimate from WC McBride Electrical Contractors LLC of the cost to install a timer for the lights. The figure came in at $950, considerably less than the estimated $3,000 per year paid by the city to run the lights all night long. It would also be in line with the CT State Building Code, which requires most outdoor lighting to be dimmed by 50 percent within one hour of closing. Using modern lighting control technologies, like timers, to limit energy waste and light pollution is the new standard of practice.

“In this age of climate chaos, when we seek greater energy efficiency and ways to reduce carbon emissions, how can putting these lights on timers be a bad thing?,” asked Spain.

According to Donna M. Curran, ACCA Board Member and Lights Out Liason, dozens of surplus blue-poled lights were installed at the city park nearly 20 years ago without community input. Local organizers contend that the lights were not installed for public safety, but because the city had significantly overordered lamp posts for the Fairfield Avenue streetscape improvement project and had nowhere else to put them. The mass installation went ahead without consideration of the consequences for neighbors, local wildlife, or the climate.

“In the years since 113 lights were crammed into St. Mary’s, light pollution is now regarded as a nuisance encroachment, environmental hazard, and a public health issue,” said Curran. “Bridgeport, the state’s largest city, can be a thought leader and set an admirable example by putting the excessively bright 113 lights on timers. Not only would it help our millions of migrating birds, nearby residents, and reintroduce the night sky, but it would reduce our carbon footprint and wasted tax dollars. Timers are a cost-efficient fix.” 

Spain points out that in 2018, when the Ganim administration turned off all the lights to replace them at a cost of more than $650K, there were no reported or observed adverse effects on public safety. “In fact, homeowners adjacent to the park reported more peace and quiet, and they could see the stars, during that four-month period,” said Spain.

Lights Out Connecticut estimates that installing timers on the 113 lights could save the city at least $3,005.00 per year in electricity costs and cut 19.6 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually (equivalent of 4.4 typical cars' annual CO2 emissions). It would also put the city of Bridgeport on a path toward aligning with the state's unanimously passed Public Act No. 23-143 (“Lights Out CT law”), which requires that all state-owned buildings dim unnecessary lights every night by 11pm year-round.

“We’re hopeful that Mayor Joe Ganim and Bridgeport city officials will find a solution to reduce the nighttime light burden at St Mary's-by-the-sea for residents and local wildlife. We will continue to provide technical support to ACCA and Bridgeport residents on this effort, and find the right avenue to bring this issue forward,” said Meredith Barges, Co-Chair of Lights Out CT and co-author of Building Safer Cities for Birds: How Cities Are Leading the Way on Bird-Friendly Building Policy.

A petition to turn off the lights during peak bird migration has collected over 130 signatures.