OGDEN -- Mayor Matthew Godfrey's rather dim view of an ordinance regulating the use of promotional spotlights failed to catch the attention of the city council Tuesday night.
The council voted unanimously to override Godfrey's veto of the ordinance. As a result, the spotlight regulation will remain in place.
It's important to protect Ogden's night sky from spotlight encroachment, City Councilwoman Susan Van Hooser said. Councilwoman Amy Wicks said she's concerned that without the ordinance the city could become inundated with spotlights. The city council adopted the ordinance earlier this month. Adoption followed months of study by the council and several complaints from residents about a spotlight used on weekends at The Vault, a dance club in the Kiesel Building at 2401 S. Kiesel Ave. The council has indicated it feels spotlights used for promotional purposes have a benefit, but also affect surrounding properties and the environment.
The ordinance requires a permit to operate a spotlight and has several other restrictions, including:
* Spotlights can be used only in community commercial, regional commercial and manufacturing zones or the central business district.
* Spotlight beams must be directed into the sky and not into mountains or buildings.
* Only steady beams can be used and cannot flash or alternate colors.
* Spotlights cannot interfere with any state or federal regulations regarding aircraft safety.
* A spotlight may be used on any single parcel or lot for no more than 12 single or consecutive nights per year.
Godfrey told the city council the ordinance is unnecessary because the use of spotlights by businesses is generally self-regulating.
Most businesses use spotlights only to promote special events, and overuse of the device diminishes its effectiveness, he said.
Laron Zaugg, who owns The Vault and attended the city council meeting, said he was unaware of the ordinance until contacted Tuesday by the Standard-Examiner. He added the city council has never notified him about the ordinance.
Zaugg said he purchased a 4,000-watt spotlight and has been shining it from the roof of the Kiesel Building every Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to midnight since the dance club opened in May 2009.
The spotlight is positioned so that it shines skyward instead of toward the mountains and homes along the East Bench, he said.
Zaugg believes he has come up with a creative way to get around the 12-day use restriction in the ordinance and plans to ask about 80 tenants in the Kiesel Building and nearby business to obtain spotlight permits.
Zaugg said if he can get more than 30 businesses to participate, it's possible under the ordinance that the spotlight could be moved to various locations and could shine every night of the year.
"It (the spotlight) is not going to go away," he said.
Related link: This article is a topic of discussion at Weber County Forum.
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