Moser’s Plan Trips Over Lighting in Parking Lot

By Annie Nelson, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.

May 2–The city council spent more than half an hour last night debating 5 feet.

The council finally rejected a development plan for a Moser’s Grocery Store on Range Line Street because it called for 30-foot-tall light poles, 5 feet above the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommended height of 25 feet.

It doesn’t seem like much, but 5 feet makes a big difference in terms of light pollution, Mayor Darwin Hindman said.

“When you talk about light pollution… it involves annoying competitiveness that happens with different stores trying to be brighter than others, effectively making the store into sign,” Hindman said. “You’ve got to balance.”

Jay Gebhardt, a civil engineer representing grocery store owner Roger Moser, pointed out that residents of northern Columbia have been asking for a grocery store for a long time.

“Mr. Moser is stepping up prior to a Wal-Mart,” Gebhardt said. “We think it’s a good plan, a good location, and we worked hard to come up with a nice looking plan.”

Gebhardt argued the lighting would not spill onto Range Line, also known as Highway 763, because of the parking lot’s proposed distance from the street — more than 100 feet.

“Which is why we’ve considered” the planning commission’s recommendation “and said no, politely,” said Fred Malicoat of Malicoat-Windslow Engineers PC, the project’s lighting engineer.

“We take into consideration this is a grocery store open until 10 or 10:30 at night,” Gebhardt said. “Our customers want a well-lit parking lot.”

Fourth Ward Councilman Jim Loveless made the point that lighting standards, which the Planning and Zoning Commission based on national guidelines, can be reached a number of ways.

“He could do it with 15-foot poles and just distribute more of them around the lot,” Loveless said.

“It takes more light and more energy” to do that, Malicoat said.

Council newcomer Barbara Hoppe, who represents the Sixth Ward, asked what could be achieved with 30-foot poles that couldn’t be achieved with 25-foot poles.

“The higher the poles are, the better distribution of light,” Malicoat said.

Hindman brought up the issue of precedence. The neighboring Taco Bell restaurant already has agreed to install 24-foot lighting poles, and the mayor said granting 30-foot poles to Moser could make it tough to require shorter poles for other developers, which wouldn’t be fair to Taco Bell.

Gebhardt argued it was unfair to require the same standard of Taco Bell and Moser’s Grocery Store because the grocery’s lot was at a lower elevation than the fast food restaurant.

Lighting standards are not addressed in Columbia ordinances.

“Our desired outcome is right, but it’s not very fair to demand things not in our ordinances,” Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser said.

Hoppe replied, “I think P&Z made it very clear they recommended it only pass with 25-foot light poles.”

“Once again this shows us we need to get a lighting ordinance,” Hindman pointed out.

The development plan was defeated 5-2. Third Ward Councilman Bob Hutton and Nauser gave the only two “yes” votes.

The mayor said he hopes city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission will develop a lighting ordinance this year, but he said it wouldn’t be easy because it’s such a technical issue.

In other action, the council called for a special election in August to vote on a $60 million revenue bond issue for improvements to the city’s energy transmission system.

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