LAKE COUNTY — Almost two months after a board of supervisors proclamation read by former supervisor Jim Steele declaring the county’s intent to preserve Lake County’s dark night skies, the effort to change light pollution legislation and make Lake County an official dark sky community is getting underway.

Bill Haddon is president of the board of the Friends of Taylor Observatory, which supports an observatory and planetarium in Kelseyville. According to Haddon, writing better laws to regulate light pollution from streetlights is one aspect of a broader plan to garner certification from the International Dark Skies Association for Lake County as a dark sky destination.

The IDA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1988 which combats light pollution and promotes stargazing around the globe. According to the organization’s website, roughly 100 locations in the world have been designated International Dark Sky Places.

Should Lake County receive the certification, it would become the only county to do so nationwide, according to Haddon.

“We would be the first countywide dark sky community in the country,” he said.

IDA Dark Sky Places Program Coordinator Adam Dalton said Jan. 10 that no county in the US has dark sky certification. He said that there are other counties currently applying, but noted that Lake County’s population and size would distinguish it from even those counties, should it be approved as a dark sky community.

“In terms of size, it would be up there with some of the national parks that we’ve certified,” he said. “In terms of being a populated area that is fairly large, it would be unique in that sense.”

Dalton added that while Lake County’s application is the furthest along among the counties applying, the small size of the other counties could mean that Lake County would have longer to go before certification.

Dalton estimated that it could take a few years for Lake County to achieve the designation from the IDA it is seeking, saying that the German city Fulda, which has a comparable population to Lake County at 68,000 residents, had taken about four years to become certified.

Only three IDSPs exist in California. Borrego Springs and its surrounding California state park, Anza-Borrego, are two. The other is Death Valley National Park. Lake County, with its 64,000 residents, would be the outlier.

Though the IDA’s certification guidelines are strict, Haddon is hopeful for the initiative’s goal.

“It’s a general atmosphere that we have here in Lake County,” Haddon said of stargazing opportunities and low levels of light pollution. “Everyone who comes to a dark sky location absolutely loves the experience.”

Haddon observed that IDA certification does not depend heavily on the absolute levels of nighttime darkness throughout an area. Instead, it takes into consideration a community’s commitment to fighting light pollution.

“The distinction is not all about having the darkest skies, it’s about what you’re doing in the long term to preserve the dark skies you have,” he said.

One of the biggest aspects of such preservation is the creation of legislation to regulate outdoor lighting.

Haddon said that “the most basic thing is to have the light pointing downward, not upward.”

“Coolness” of light is also a major consideration. Light that puts of a higher temperature light is more pollutive. Perhaps surprisingly, cooler lighting is often redder in color, as coolness refers to light’s intensity, not its color.

Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said Jan. 9 that the city is likely to be open to working with the Lake County Dark Skies Initiative and Bill Haddon to pursue better rules for outdoor lighting.

“One of our economic development goals has been looking at the dark skies initiative,” he said. “It’s certainly a worthy endeavor to protect that asset.”

Ingram noted that current city code was insufficient to protect the night skies. “If you look at our zoning ordinance, there’s like one sentence,” he said, adding that he is interested in expanding that section of code.

Besides the code being addressed, Ingram said “there is a lot of low hanging fruit that can be addressed … even just putting shields on existing fixtures.”

Lake County will need to retrofit most of its outdoor lighting to IDA standards. “It is recommended that applicants have 67 percent of public lighting stock compliant with IDA guidelines,” Dalton said. This can include the replacement of light fixtures, bulbs, and even infrastructure.

Dalton said that pushback in a more populated community against a dark skies initiative usually centers around public safety concerns.

“Generally the biggest pushback that we get is the concern about public safety,” he said.

The IDA argues that based on recent and forthcoming studies, there is very little correlation between lower light levels and more crime.

“We’re going to have to balance the need for safety with the dark sky initiative,” Ingram noted. Ingram warned that some of the IDA’s suggestions are too dark to be supported in some areas.

“We’ll have to thread the needle a little bit,” he said. “Public safety will be a key player on this.”

On the other hand, Ingram said that the cost to the city would be relatively low should more IDA-recommended lights be used, because of energy efficiency.

And lighting regulations are not the only part of a successful IDSP application.

Dalton noted that community outreach, regular dark-sky related programs, lighting retrofits, community partnerships, and “maintaining dark sky awareness and momentum” after the certification is awarded are other important factors outside of legislation.