Dark Sky regulations will limit outdoor lighting at night after the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners approved them during a regular, virtual meeting on Tuesday, February 15, 2022. The Board also approved the Courthouse for June primaries, an MOU for emergency use of the fairgrounds, and a proclamation for Black History Month.

Community Development Interim Director Tami Archer introduced revisions to the Gilpin County Zoning Regulations regarding outdoor lighting. On November 9, 2021, the Board had held a public hearing regarding proposed changes to outdoor lighting, ultimately referring it back to the Planning Commission for further refinement.

During the public hearings before the Commissioners, concerns were voiced regarding the limits surrounding how long outdoor lighting could be on, applicability of limits when property is not in a more densely populated area, limits on lumen output, security, and safety. At the December 2021 Planning Commission meeting, revisions were made addressing those concerns.

According to the proposed outdoor lighting section, “Gilpin County promotes ‘Dark Sky’ lighting recommendations to preserve the natural beauty of the night skies, encourage neighborly consideration, and protect against negative impacts on human health and wildlife.

“The purpose of this code is to provide clear regulations for lighting consistent with industry standards and practices, available technologies, and lighting scenarios to minimize glare, excess brightness, harsh intensity, light trespass, and misdirection of lights to protect night-time public safety, security, privacy, productivity, and movement of vehicles and persons.”

The regulations state that all outdoor lighting with lumens greater than 100 lumens (10 watt incandescent bulb equivalent) must be installed with an on/off switch or motion sensor or detector. Lighting cannot be on for longer than 20 minutes in the absence of sustained activity. Motion sensors must not be activated by movement beyond the property boundary or activity on public roadways.

Security lighting shall not exceed 3,000 lumens (200 watt or equivalent) and cannot be on for longer than 20 minutes in the absence of sustained activity. A single porch light less than 45 watts is allowed from dusk to dawn.

Exemptions include holiday lighting, lighting required by the FAA, emergency lighting as required by law enforcement, and construction lighting. The Commissioners received several comments from the public, mainly in favor of the proposal.

Each commissioner liked the proposal with the changes made by the Planning Commission, and the Board approved the regulations.

Clerk and Recorder Sahari McCormick requested a location for the June 28, 2022 Primary Election. The election will have in-person voting from June 20 through June 28, 2022.

Elections since the June Primary in 2020 have been at the Community Center, where it was easy to provide social distancing for voters, staff, and election workers. Before that, all elections had been held at the Courthouse in Central City, including voting in the main hallway and ballot processing downstairs.

Social distancing at the Courthouse would be impossible in the Elections Room, but it could work in the Commissioners’ meeting room for processing, allowing elections to be brought back to their historic location.

Also, on March 3, 2022, the County needs to start a period of public comment as to where the November 2022 election will be held. So the 2022 general election could be at a different location than the primary election. McCormick will have more information at the next meeting about the November election.

Meanwhile, McCormick said she had to turn in her election plan by February 28. Her department has to start setting up eight days before the election.

On average, she said, fewer than 50 voters come in to vote in person, but in a recent general election, more than 300 people came in. Most voters use their mail ballots. Ballots will drop on June 6.

Commissioner Web Sill said the Courthouse could handle 50 people, so there would be no need to move the election. McCormick said a space for election workers will be needed, and they can only have two workers at a time because of Covid restrictions. Further, the workers are all 75 and older.

Commission Chair Sandy Hollingsworth said they can use the Commissioners’ room, where there could be sufficient distance between workers. The Board agreed to use the Commissioners’ room at the Courthouse for the primary.

At that point in the meeting, the Zoom platform went down, hit by a “bomb,” so the Commissioners had to adjourn the meeting until it could be cleared up. The meeting resumed later that morning.

Nathan Whittington, Office of Emergency Management Director, introduced a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Clear Creek County for the emergency use of Gilpin County’s fairgrounds. The County would incur minimal costs in the first 24 hours of sheltering operations for expenses such as electricity, gas, and water.

Gilpin County and Clear Creek County share similar topography and rural natures. This MOU helps ensure that Gilpin’s facilities, if needed, can be used by Clear Creek to help shelter large and small animals during a disaster. This MOU aligns the efforts that have been identified over the past few years with the increased fire intensity and frequency.

Judge Gary Jackson presented the history of Lincoln Hills, which was developed for people of color from 1922 to 1965, with 100 acres of property from Highway 72 to Pactolus Lake. People would rent rooms at Winks’ Tavern. Black travelers came from all over, including musicians Lena Horne and Duke Ellington as well as famous writers.

After his presentation, the Board approved a proclamation declaring the month of February as Black History Month. “The County of Gilpin recognizes that people of African-American heritage have played a vital role in the development of Central City, churches, Lincoln Hills, and other aspects of the history of Gilpin County, other local communities and the nation,” the proclamation states.

“The County of Gilpin recognizes the fact that people of African-American heritage are an integral part of the diversity of our county, state and nation; and Gilpin County is dedicated to opposing systemic racism towards people of color, which perpetuates higher rates of poverty and income inequality, and exacerbates disproportionate health, education, and social crises, and Gilpin County strongly encourages schools to include the teaching of African

American history in their curriculum and encourages other businesses, organizations, and institutions to recognize Black History Month.”

The Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners will conduct a special meeting on February 18, at 9 a.m., for an executive session with the County Manager finalist, and will have a work session not open to the public on February 24 regarding Black Hawk and Central City opposing the Gross Reservoir expansion current plans.

The next regular meeting of the Board will be on March 1, 2022, at 9 a.m.