Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008 - (Page 39)

Implications for the Sign Industry At the end of the day, why does the sign industry and the USSC care about Lighting “bans” and lighting controls at night for on-premise signs? The reasons can be summarized as follows: of public safety. 1. It’s a speech and communication issue. While lighting, in general, enjoys no specific constitutional protection, on-premise signs do enjoy protection under the First Amendment as a form of speech. This limits the ability of regulators to set unreasonable rules and standards for on-premise signs (including lighting). Or to phrase it another way: Towns have no legitimate governmental interest in making onpremise signs harder to see and read at night. 2. It’s also a traffic safety issue. Research has shown that internally illuminated signs perform best at night compared to externally illuminated signs and are better for traffic safety. Externally illuminated signs perform so poorly at night, in many cases, that they cannot be recommended in the interests Internally illuminated signs provide a light source that’s most effective and has the least impact on the environment. Internally illuminated signs, by their nature and design, don’t contribute to the diminution of the night sky or add vast amounts of light “spillage” into the atmosphere. Internally illuminated signs—as they’re presently designed and constructed—provide optimal illumination for their intended use (which is to be seen by motorists at night and in all types of weather and driving conditions). Externally illuminated signs, on the other hand, create many side effects, such as: light misdirection, light spillage, light going into the sky (and not the sign message), etc. As citizens, we can all support efforts to conserve energy where practical and appropriate, and we can certainly support improved design for outdoor lighting fixtures and components. Seeing the sky at night is certainly a wonderful thing. At the same time, society has been striving for centuries to bring illumina- 3. It’s best for the environment. tion to homes and businesses at night. Illumination is viewed as an indication of progress and vitality. There are nations on this earth that would covet our lighting at night. Bringing back the night sky doesn’t mean sacrificing the technological gains and economic advancement that we’ve achieved in our short 200+ years of existence and doesn’t justify creating unsafe traffic safety conditions by implementing arbitrary, unscientific lighting controls at night for on-premise signs. b Richard Crawford is an attorney and past president of the USSC. His practice includes sign consulting and zoning services, as well as the actual design and installation of on-premise signs. He also serves on several national building code committees for the International Code Council (ICC). For additional information on sign lighting studies—including a new USSC lighting study currently underway at Penn State University—contact the USSC at 215/785-1922 or visit www.ussc.org. May 2008 Sign Builder Illustrated 39

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008

Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008 Contents SBI Agenda Quotes & Comments Contributors Costly Concerns Dispatches Sign Show Dateline: Time to Find a New Identity Teaching a New Dog Old Tricks Sign Illumination: It’s Time to Pay Attention Restoring Old Photographs for Digital Printing Price Doesn’t Sell the Signs You Want to Make Architects in LED Codes for Electric Signs: Don’t Get Blindsided! Digital Displays at the Pearl Harbor Museum The Art of Wayfinding Signage Grand Format National Following Traffic Sign Regulations Designs on ADA Signage Painting Professionally SBI Marketplace Imagine-It Graphics

Sign Builder Illustrated - May 2008

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