
Concise enforceable language
What is The Flagstaff Solution?
Introduction
FDSC was founded in 1999 with the mission To Celebrate, Promote and Protect the Glorious Dark Skies of Flagstaff and Northern Arizona. Our primary efforts have always been to raise awareness about the value and importance of dark skies through Celebration – we have created the art exhibit NightVisions, and the Flagstaff Star Party, and other outreach to raise community-wide awareness of the value of night skies and night sky protection.
FDSC increasingly recognizes that Flagstaff has achieved something unique: effective dark sky protection, proven by measurement. A measurement in 2016, and reported at the American Astronomical Society semiannual meeting in January 2017, and in the Arizona Daily Sun, showed that the Flagstaff light dome is about 90% fainter than that of similarly-sized Cheyenne Wyoming.

Why is this important?
Despite nearly 40 years’ efforts by dark sky advocacy organizations, accumulating evidence shows that light pollution continues to increase essentially everywhere (see for example Stars could be invisible within 20 years as light pollution brightens night skies The Guardian, Robin McKie, 27 May 2023). Flagstaff’s success has proven that increasing light pollution is not inevitable, even in the face of continued development. If other communities could take advantage of Flagstaff’s experience, it is clear that even with continued population growth, light pollution tomorrow can still be dramatically less than it is today. In fact this research demonstrates that visibility of the Milky Way can realistically be restored in communities as large as or larger than Flagstaff (population ~80,000)!
Too few are aware of this positive message. With The Flagstaff Solution (TFS) project, FDSC is endeavoring to make Flagstaff’s experience more accessible and understood. TFS will clearly define what Flagstaff has done, and provide guidance on how other communities can take advantage of what we have learned.
What is TFS?
Flagstaff’s phenomenal, perhaps unparalleled success was achieved with no more magic than effective application of well-known strategies to protect night skies – effective spectral standards (true PC amber or narrowband amber lighting for most area lighting, not warm-white or low CCT white), effective shielding, and reasonable limits on total lighting amounts to prevent over lighting. Nonetheless, these simple approaches are much too rarely effectively applied.
We will list and describe the essential elements of the components underlying Flagstaff’s success, including not only the lighting codes, but also planning policies, design and engineering guidelines of agencies not covered by the lighting codes, community education and engagement, etc. Where possible, we will quantify how much benefit can be obtained, in terms of decreased visual sky brightness, or other relevant measures.
How can other communities use TFS?
By simply presenting, in detail, the multiple interdependent elements underlying Flagstaff’s successful night sky protection, other communities can pursue more informed strategies to protect their own night skies. Further, by underscoring crucial aspects which are not commonly or clearly described by the most well-known light pollution authorities, the most common failures can be recognized and avoided.
Bookmark this page, and stay tuned for updates! If you are passionate about the value of star-filled skies and a natural night, and want to help FDSC produce effective guidance to restore the night, consider donating or becoming a member! We welcome members from anywhere, across the U.S. and around the world. We plan to have the initial documents describing in detail “What is TFS” posted before summer of 2024!
Elements of the Flagstaff Solution
(Under development – last update 2025/02/12)
The elements of TFS are in broad strokes familiar: lighting code(s), community support, and effective enforcement. What makes TFS an effective solution is how these pieces are built and how they work together.
Here we describe the three essential elements of Flagstaff’s solution, with the purpose of clarifying just what is different about TFS, why it has been successful, providing clear information and guidance for other communities no longer satisfied with the “light pollution is not as bad as it could have been” approach to light pollution control that is (effectively) advocated by other organizations.

Effective light pollution control requires three elements. Further, these elements are interdependent in a way such that deficiency in any one of the Triad will break down the entire process.
Too many light pollution control efforts focus narrowly on the lighting code. Though many lighting codes are poorly written, including legally ambiguous or technically inaccurate or contradictory standards, even a well-written code will not limit or reduce light pollution without community support and effective application. Without broad community support, the plan review and enforcement resources are unlikely to be devoted to effectively implement the standards defined in the lighting code.
So The Flagstaff Solution is only partly about a well-written lighting code. Though adopting a code based on Flagstaff’s Lighting Code can be a start (and we recommend against the “tailor it to your community’s priorities or needs” approach too often advocated), elements of the community support and means for effective application are likely to be different in different communities based on the processes and documents used by the community for defining values and goals. In Part I here we list all of the relevant written documents and established processes that have led to effective light pollution reduction in Flagstaff, highlighting critical elements where instructive. In Part II we will suggest processes to help implement TFS in other communities.
Part I – Codes and Standards
Flagstaff Lighting Code
Critical Elements –
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Flagstaff Sign Code
Critical Elements
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Flagstaff Roadway Lighting Standards
Critical Elements
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NAU Lighting Standards
Critical Elements
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Planning Policies
Flagstaff Regional Plan 2030
Critical Elements |
Coconino County Comprehensive Plan
Critical Elements |