The Yamhill City Council will hold a hearing next month on an exterior lighting ordinance after the planning commission forwarded a revised draft, staff told the council Dec. 10.

Speaker 8 said planning had held hearings and will bring the lighting ordinance to council; a separate variance hearing was continued to Dec. 15. The council discussed several substantive questions ahead of the hearing: whether the city's own fixtures and municipal properties fall under the lumen limits, whether historic buildings should receive variances, whether complaints should be limited to adjacent or affected properties or open to any member of the public, and the timeline for bringing nonconforming fixtures into compliance.

On the scope of complaints, Speaker 8 confirmed planning had changed language so that "anyone could make a complaint" for commercial buildings, a point several councilors said could create a substantial code-enforcement workload. Speaker 3 gave an example of a non-adjacent light that still affected a home and said the six-month compliance period is reasonable. Speaker 1 noted council could approve the ordinance with changes at the hearing and that exemptions or variance language could be added for historic buildings.

Speaker 8 summarized the effective-date language in the draft: existing outdoor fixtures are exempt at adoption but "must eventually conform," with an effective-date definition applying to the six-month window in some sections. Councilors were asked to submit questions to planning staff in advance so the hearing can resolve outstanding issues.

What happens next: the ordinance will be formally heard at the next council meeting; staff will provide answers to council questions and the council may adopt the ordinance with amendments at that hearing.