Sea Turtle Conservancy Program Offers Lighting Retrofit Program to Beachfront Properties

Beachfront property owners are being offered a special grant by the Sea Turtle Conservancy to retrofit beachfront property lighting, it was announced during a workshop Tuesday, February 25th at the Marco City Hall meeting room.

Speakers from the Sea Turtle Conservancy, based in Gainesville, laid out the program for a crowd of around 50, consisting mainly of local code enforcement personnel and beachfront condominium managers. 

The speakers took advantage of the opportunity to educate attendees about code-compliant lighting, sea turtle ordinances and the nesting habits of sea turtles. They even administered a 25-question quiz at the end of their presentation.

The workshop’s goal is to inform code enforcement personnel about how artificial light impacts turtles, how to review current ordinances and regulations on beachfront lighting, and how to recognize poor beachfront lighting. 

Rachel Tighe, the lighting project manager for the Sea Turtle Conservancy, led the team of three speakers, that includes development coordinator Stacey Gallagher and lighting project specialist Cypres Ferran. 

With funding received from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (GEBF) and previous funding sources, the Sea Turtle Conservancy is able to strategically and financially assist beachfront property owners in retrofitting their lighting to sea turtle-friendly lighting without compromising safety and security to the property.

“We cover 100% of the cost of the fixtures and bulbs,” said Stacey Gallagher. “The property is responsible for paying for the installation. A medium-to-large sized property can be anywhere from $20,000-$50,000. We’ll cover that. The installation, depending on whether a contractor or in-house staff does the work, can cost between $6,000 and $7,000. So we cover quite a bit.”

Ferran briefed the audience on the three rules of retrofitting: keep it low, keep it shielded and keep it long. Lower fixtures are less likely to be seen from the beach. Shielding lights both directs and prevents light sources from being seen from the beach, while still providing sufficient light for people. Keeping it long means picking long wavelengths of light, such as yellow, amber and red.

To take advantage of the retrofit process, beachfront property owners must first meet with the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC). Then the STC conducts day and night inspections of the property. An individualized lighting plan is then prepared. Once the plan is approved by the property owners, a grant agreement is signed. The property owners receive most of the funding upfront for materials, then install the fixtures and bulbs and submit a final report. Then the Sea Turtle Commission completes a post-retrofit inspection. Once the inspection is passed, the STC sends the property owners the remaining funds.

To learn more about how to obtain a lighting grant, contact the Sea Turtle Conservancy at 352-373-6441 or visit their website at www.conserveturtles.org.