The Alexandria City Council voted to amend the city’s zoning code to remove a specific 80‑foot height limit for light poles at congregate recreational facilities and dog parks, and approved a separate special‑use permit (SUP) allowing Episcopal High School to install field lighting with conditions intended to limit neighborhood impacts.

The zoning change and the school permit were linked in council debate: council members and staff said taller poles can focus light more precisely and reduce glare, while neighborhood groups and civic associations urged caution and fuller public engagement before erasing a fixed cap. The council approved the text amendment items and the Episcopal SUP after negotiating conditions that require the school to limit nighttime lighting, maintain community outreach and a phone line for complaints, and return to the council if implementation timelines change.

Why it matters: The text amendment alters how the city evaluates athletic‑field lighting in the future. Instead of a single numerical limit, councils and planning staff will evaluate each SUP against site‑specific criteria (setbacks, photometric plans, landscaping, hours and usage). Supporters say allowing taller poles can reduce off‑site glare; opponents argued removing the cap is a significant policy change that needed broader outreach.

Council action and main points
- Zoning text amendment: Council approved multiple technical corrections and policy updates, including removing the 80‑foot limit. Staff emphasized that the SUP requirement remains in place — any pole above the base district height still needs a public SUP review. Planning staff said the rule change is intended to permit more modern, focused lighting designs where appropriate.
- Episcopal High School SUP: Council approved the school’s SUP for athletic‑field lighting after attaching conditions. Key negotiated conditions include a five‑year SUP term, a citywide linkage that lights above the zone’s base height will still require SUP review, a 10:00 p.m. lights‑out requirement for nightly athletic use, an annual meeting with neighbors and a single school point of contact for complaints.

What supporters and critics said
- City planning staff and the applicant’s lighting experts argued that taller poles, properly designed, can reduce spill and glare. “The higher height just allows for a more precise focus,” said Bill Cook of Planning and Zoning during the public discussion, describing photometric results staff used to evaluate spill and off‑site illumination.
- Opponents, including the Alexandria Federation of Civic Associations and several nearby homeowners, said the change is not minor and would remove a meaningful limit that protected adjacent residences. “This is a significant change,” said Roy Shannon, representing nearby property owners, who urged more study and broader outreach before removing the cap.
- Stephanie Sparks Smith, general counsel for Episcopal High School, told the council the school had modified its plans to reduce the number and location of new poles and said the school would work to mitigate impacts. “Good governance is when new technology and new information comes that would otherwise have ordinances that stand in the way...and then they re‑look at ordinances,” she said.

What the change does — and doesn’t — do
- The code change does not make any tall lights automatically by‑right; poles that exceed the district’s base height still require a SUP with public hearings. Council and staff framed the amendment as removing a rigid numeric barrier so each project can be judged on contemporary photometrics and site specifics.
- Council attached process and operational controls (time limits, community notification and complaint handling) to the Episcopal SUP as the immediate test case. Staff said the council may still deny an individual SUP if the photometric and setback conditions cannot be met.

Next steps and oversight
- The zoning text amendment includes a separate implementation ordinance that staff will finalize; council scheduled that implementation ordinance for a subsequent meeting to clarify the relationship between the code change and pending SUPs.
- If neighbors report unresolved glare or other impacts after lights are installed, staff will work with the property owner to adjust aiming, shielding or operating hours. Council members asked staff to retain a short list of technical criteria (photometrics, setbacks, operational hours) on the city web site so residents can easily find the standards used to evaluate any SUP.

Ending note
Council members said they expected future SUPs to continue to be evaluated case‑by‑case and said the Episcopal SUP would be a test of the new approach. The council’s approval reflects a shift from a fixed numeric standard to a site‑specific review process intended to balance modern lighting technology against neighborhood protections.