I honestly couldn’t tell you after tonight’s meeting. As the meeting progressed, the number of light poles being posted in parking lots along West Lawther seemed to decrease.
The city already has payed $300,000 of its 2006 bond funds to purchase 54 of the 20-foot light poles topped with acorn-shaped lamps. The meeting Councilman Sheffie Kadane called was to discuss the project and address neighbors’ concerns about the lights. Of course, part of the problem is that no matter how neighbors feel about them, the lights are already in the city’s possession, and there’s nothing that can be done about that now.
We learned all kinds of things about lumens, watts and footcandles that I won’t go into — I assume if you were interested in those kinds of details, you were probably at tonight’s meeting — but a few observations stood out to me:
• The people who were at the meeting seemed to come at this problem from one of two places: It’s a neighborhood issue for the people who live near the lake; or it’s not up to the neighborhood to decide because thousands of people in Dallas visit the lake and the surrounding park. Both sides had some valid arguments.
• People REALLY care about White Rock Lake. No matter what their position, that was the common thread. It may have been the most incensed community meeting I have ever attended, and I’m a former small-town newspaper reporter.
• It appeared that the majority of people present were opposed to the lights — or at least opposed to 17 of them in a single parking lot — but their stances and their reasoning ranged the gamut. Aesthetics were one obvious complaint, but other people were concerned about the lights’ effect on the environment, everything from light pollution (which Norm Alston pointed out in a previous comment is not about electricity), to their effect on the surrounding nature preserve, to migrating birds being killed by the 20-foot poles. People who spoke in support of the lights usually stated their belief that more lighting would deter criminals and make runners/cyclists feel safer.
• Deputy Chief Jan Easterling was present to speak about security issues addressed by the lights, and told neighbors that, by and large, White Rock Lake is a very safe place. Neighbors commented that most of the crime problems they experience near the lake are daytime car break-ins, which wouldn’t be affected by nighttime parking lot lights, and Easterling agreed that the vast majority of lake crimes fall into that category. When neighbors asked for studies and crime statistics to prove that adding lights would reduce crime, Easterling told the people gathered: "I don’t think anybody is saying that lighting will reduce crime." But she said that parking lot lights would help her patrol officers see what is happening, and that lighting in general enhances safety.
• This has nothing to do with the lights, but attending a neighborhood meeting always reminds me of how diverse our neighborhood is. Just as an example, I heard French, British, Dutch and Indian accents among the people who spoke up. Very cool.
After listening to an hour or more of people speaking their minds, Kadane first said that he thought there should be "fewer" lights than the plan calls for. Later, after the $300,000 purchase already made was pointed out, he said "from my understanding, lights will be going in, but maybe less lighting and maybe different lighting."
By the end of the meeting, Kadane had decided to form a new lighting master plan for White Rock Lake, created by concerned citizens. He instructed people to e-mail him if they are interested in getting involved. By the end of the meeting (which didn’t have an official closing; it was just over around 10 p.m. when almost everyone had left and the few remaining impassioned people had formed circles to discuss their views), I heard Kadane say, "We may not even have lights."
That statement may have finally appeased a few people who had pretty much said they didn’t want a compromise; they wanted zero lights installed in White Rock Lake parking lots. But unfortunately for Kadane, he couldn’t win for losing: As soon as he started talking about a new master plan, other neighbors told him he was wrong for letting people persuade him.
The good news is that if we decide we don’t want the lights, it appears that neighbors in Oak Cliff would be happy to take them off of our hands. City Councilman David Neumann was present, and when someone asked a seemingly irrelevant question about lighting at Kiest Park, Neumann told neighbors that Oak Cliff residents would want to double and even triple that park’s lighting. A White Rock Lake Dog Park representative spoke up and said she would be happy to take any extra lights, too.
