Light Pollution Kills the Night

Did you know that Tom Barber’s brightly lit nighttime golf driving range located on Tierra Rejada Road adjacent to the 23 Freeway is about to be granted a lease by Ventura County which will extend all the way to the year 2037?

This unusual action by the county planning commission was nearly final but those plans were disrupted when Moorpark officials appealed the decision. Now, it has been bumped up to the commission’s bosses, the Ventura County Supervisors, to make a final decision. As it now stands, Barber has the right to operate his driving range until 2017.

If this deal sounds like one person will be getting special treatment from the county that won’t expire for 25 years from now, you are on the right track.

Barber’s public remarks have painted a picture of a bully. He has demonized his critics, stacked the meetings in his favor, and has his own Greek chorus echoing his bombastic claims of reasonableness under what he sees as oppressive circumstances. This has precluded any serious evaluation by a disinterested third party of Barber’s failure to keep his light pollution confined to his own property. 

Coincidentally, the general public was not informed of the planning meeting. The commission chose, instead, to do the minimum required by law, which is notifying all residents who live within 1,000 feet of the disputed property. It’s a greenbelt, so the local rattlesnakes and opossums chose to skip the meeting.

According to Barber’s public comments, he has bent over backwards to accommodate the nitpicking, night-hugging, busybody citizens and politicians who have dared to criticize the manner in which he does business.  But, seems there is no pleasing that small group of complainers with “a political agenda.”  Apparently, they have drawn a bead on a conscientious businessman who humbly says he merely provides a bit of respite from the cruel world for the “working stiff” who can’t take off two afternoons a week to hit the links.

When Moorpark, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley city officials suggested that the light pollution emanating from the driving range was trespassing on private and public property and might be a public and private nuisance, it was immediately brushed off by the Planning Commission. Perhaps a more informed and unbiased legal opinion would be appropriate here.

If Barber’s high-profile in the region has influenced the commission, I would like to remind them of the eventual fate of Pruner and his ambulances. His once-mighty monopolistic empire of ambulance service no longer is in existence. Just saying.

Barber complained that he has mitigated the light problem, as verified by his own so-called expert and that is all he intends to do. He said he has removed three lights nearest the freeway, aimed the lights differently and—my favorite—will be changing to frosted bulbs to reduce the glare.

Barber also mentioned that his workers are forced to retrieve the balls from the range after it closes IN THE DARK! Any obvious solutions come to mind?

The County Board of Supervisors has the last word on this appeal. The meeting that was scheduled to vote on the issue has been indefinitely postponed. But, before making a final decision, our supervisors might want to look to their neighbors to see which way the wind is blowing on the issue of light pollution.

Early next year, the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Committee is expected to pass a new Dark Skies ordinance and by next summer, it will likely be in effect for rural unincorporated areas of that county. Barber’s range is in rural unincorporated Ventura County. Hmmmm. Similar ordinances are in the works in other local counties and cities but Ventura County has no such proposal on the table, yet.

Truth is, dark skies are the future. It is an environmental movement that has finally captured the attention of the public and is no longer the darling of just the academic and amateur stargazers.

If you remember the 1994 earthquake that knocked out the power all over Southern California and the magnificent carpet of stars that was briefly revealed in the darkness, tell your supervisor and the director of the planning commission exactly what you think about the golf range and its lights outliving many of us. 

Take back the night, it is now or never.