Thank you once again for everyone’s support with addressing the City of San Carlos about their master park plan. In case you don’t know, their master park plan includes installing overhead lights at all of their parks. Fortunately, Board Member Kevin Simpson read it and informed the Board about it and has been waiting for the topic to come up on the agenda for the Planning Commission’s monthly meeting.
It was supposed to be on the agenda for February’s meeting but that meeting ended up getting canceled. In addition, Kevin signed up to give a presentation for the meeting and so we decided to rally some speakers last minute. A special thank you goes out to Joe Little, Society Member and San Carlos resident, for taking the time to go to the meeting and speaking on our behalf at the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission meeting on April 8.
If you’ve ever seen Kevin share his star knowledge, then you won’t be surprised to hear he gave an excellent presentation. Of course, Kevin had a great PowerPoint presentation complete with photos and great information for the Planning Commission about our Star Parties. It also gave Board members a chance to thank the Planning Commission for working with us and our schedule for the Star Parties. (Click here to see the entire presentation.)
Then later during the meeting, when the plan came up on the agenda, Kevin and Board Member Michelle Torres gave comments suggesting that they not install the overhead lights at Crestview Park. Michelle Torres also suggested that they use cities that have Dark Sky Ordinances as a guide when planning projects and to pass it on to the City Council. I think most of you know that Brisbane was one of the first cities in the Bay Area to pass has a Dark Sky Ordinance. It was adopted January 2024. Palo Alto passed theirs in December and Menlo Park is working on theirs now.
The Planning Commission voted to move forward with the master park plan but noting our comments about the lights at Crestview. Mike Ryan also reached out to the Parks and Recreation Director replied stating they will reach out to the Society before moving forward with any light installations.