Keith Matheny

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions may not have lit up the scoreboard at the end of last season. But they are now lighting up Ford Field's roof, and not all area residents are basking in the blue, nightly glow.

City resident Margo Dalal on Tuesday started a petition at Change.org asking that Ford Field's nighttime roof lighting be turned off, and by Thursday afternoon, it had gathered more than 850 signatures and counting. It has sparked a debate on what constitutes light pollution versus colorful lights as a sign of a downtown with a colorful nightlife.

Dalal, 23, said she noticed the stadium's blue, skyward glow almost the instant the lights came online last August, part of a $2-million Ford Field renovation adding LED lighting with changeable colors and images to the rooftop.

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"I live 3.5 miles away and have it shining through my window every night," she said.

"It is pure light pollution. That's the definition of what blight is."

Admitting she has been "kind of obsessed with this," Dalal researched City of Detroit municipal codes and found Section 61-14-278 in the city's zoning ordinance: “All reasonable measures shall be taken to ensure that the off-site spillover of light and night glow are minimized to the greatest extent possible.”

"This is in violation of the illumination ordinance, and this sets a really bad precedent," Dalal said, noting the Red Wings' and Pistons' Little Caesars Arena set to open this fall, and a possible additional stadium for a Major League Soccer team coming in the future.

Dalal found allies to her cause as soon as it went public.

"Not only is this lighting distracting as a driver (particularly on the freeway), it is unsettling as a resident living some 4 miles away," said area resident Katie Hearn in a Facebook post. "Detroiters don’t deserve pollution — light pollution included."

The Lions responded to an interview request with an e-mailed statement: "Ford Field followed municipal protocol when acquiring all necessary permits to install and operate new LED lighting on the exterior of the stadium in 2016 and are in compliance with City of Detroit lighting ordinances.

"Additionally, we have received positive feedback from law enforcement personnel, nearby businesses and city residents about improved safety. Our belief is that light emanating from Ford Field, along with other nearby sports and entertainment venues, contributes to a more vibrant atmosphere in downtown Detroit."

City officials by Thursday afternoon had not answered Free Press inquiries into whether they believe the night glow provision of their ordinance applies to Ford Field or if the Lions received a waiver of the zoning code provision.

The LED lights, combined with the Lions' team color of Honolulu blue, may be a bad combination for human and animal health. A report last year from the American Medical Association Council on Science and Public Health finds that blue LED light in particular leads to disability glare, "an objective impairment in visual performance" that "has serious implications for nighttime driving visibility."

Blue LED light can also impact wildlife, particularly birds and insects that fly at night, the study found.

"Many birds navigate by the moon and star reflections at night; excessive nighttime lighting can lead to reflections on glass high-rise towers and other objects, leading to confusion, collisions and death," the study stated. "Many insects need a dark environment to procreate, the most obvious example being lightning bugs that cannot 'see' each other when light pollution is pronounced. Other environmentally beneficial insects are attracted to blue-rich lighting, circling under them until they are exhausted and die."

Dalal said she has raised her concerns with city building officials, and that she hopes Mayor Mike Duggan takes notice. An accommodation could be to illuminate the Ford Field roof only on game nights, she said.

"These lights are on every single night, every single day of the week," she said. "That's absurd."

Contact Keith Matheny: 313-222-5021 or kmatheny@freepress.com. Follow on Twitter @keithmatheny.