‘Issue Is Equity’ : Council Refuses to Allow Gaslamp to Switch Lights

The San Diego City Council, citing a need to treat each neighborhood equally, refused Tuesday to exempt the Gaslamp Quarter from regulations requiring that all street lights be low-pressure bulbs giving off an amber-colored glow.

Members of the Centre City Development Corp. (CCDC) had asked the council to replace the lights in the Gaslamp Quarter with a mercury-vapor bulb that gives off soft, white light.

Supporters of the exemption had argued that the Gaslamp Quarter needs brighter lights to attract shoppers. But the council voted 5 to 2 to deny the request on grounds that it would encourage other neighborhoods to seek similar exemptions.

“This was a difficult decision,” Councilman William Jones said, adding that he knew of two other neighborhoods that had planned to seek exemptions if the Gaslamp Quarter exemption passed.

“The issue is equity,” Councilman Mike Gotch said. “Each community should be treated alike.”

Councilmen Dick Murphy and Uvaldo Martinez voted for the exemption. Martinez said he favored it because he believes the downtown area is different from other areas and should be treated differently.

“I wish every community were treated the same,” Martinez said. “But pragmatically that’s not possible. Every community is different.”

He acknowledged that the exemption would set a precedent but added that he would never vote for another exemption because no other neighborhood is like the Gaslamp Quarter.

The low-pressure yellow lights, often referred to by opponents as “bug lights,” were installed about a year ago when astronomers at nearby observatories complained that lights from the city were hampering their research.

However, after the low-pressure lights were installed, CCDC officials began complaining that the Gaslamp Quarter was not properly illuminated.

CCDC Vice President Pam Hamilton said that although the low-pressure lights are technically as bright as other types, CCDC members feared that the public perceives the area as being ominous.

Hamilton asked the council to consider the importance of the Gaslamp Quarter and the amount of money committed to redeveloping the area.

“More than $100 million has been invested in the Gaslamp Quarter,” she told the council. “We think that makes a difference in how we are treated.”

She argued that downtown lights make up less than 1% of the city lights and that the observatories, more than 40 miles from downtown, would not be affected by the change.

But Burt Nelson, director of the San Diego State University observatory on Mt. Laguna, argued that brighter lights would hurt the observatory much more than dim lights are hurting the Gaslamp Quarter.

He said that although the brighter lights in one area would not have a great affect, he was worried that one exemption would lead to another, and astronomers would soon have the same problems as before.