Santa Ana Charts a New Path

The City’s Lighting Master Plan Is Built on Data and Community Input

By Randy Reid

Images courtesy of Dane Sanders, Clanton & Associates

"We have to consider human health, environmental impact, and the lived experience of the people who walk those streets every night.” ― Dane Sanders

Santa Ana, California, is taking a fresh approach to street lighting, one that balances community engagement, environmental responsibility, and smart-city readiness.

At the center of this effort is the city’s Lighting Master Plan, developed with the guidance of Dane Sanders, President of Clanton & Associates, and his team, who have been crafting lighting strategies for municipalities across the country for decades.

Dane described the project as one of the most inclusive processes he has experienced. “We did more than surveys,” he explained. “We had a local sub-consultant deeply connected to the community who brought over 80 residents to participate in hands-on evaluations.”

These participants walked through neighborhoods after dark, comparing different color temperatures and dimming levels under real streetlights. This field experience was critical, Dane noted, because “you can’t talk about footcandles with the general public and expect them to know what you mean. But you can show them and let them feel it.”

Public opinion leaned toward 4000K, despite California’s evolving regulatory environment, which may soon cap outdoor lighting at 2700K. The city is currently weighing the merits of 3000K and 4000K, with concerns ranging from human health to energy savings. Although Santa Ana has no extensive wildlife habitat, there is an endangered bird species in the area, and the city wants to be thoughtful about the ecological impacts of lighting.

To navigate these complexities, the team consulted Travis Longcore, an ecologist at UCLA who has mapped the spectral sensitivity of various species. “We’re looking at whether fewer lumens at 4000K might be better or worse than more lumens at 3000K,” Dane said. “This debate over color temperature is one of the hottest issues we face.”

He also noted that cultural and climatic factors influence residents’ preferences. “In hotter climates, cooler color temperatures are often more accepted. But awareness is shifting, and people increasingly understand lighting’s health effects.”

Santa Ana’s existing infrastructure already consists of thousands of 4000K LED fixtures purchased from Southern California Edison several years ago. These lights are not tunable, meaning any change in color temperature will require swapping out the fixtures.

Dane emphasized that this is not a citywide retrofit project. Rather, it is a plan to guide investments over the next 20 years.

A key element of the plan is its reliance on citywide GIS mapping and data analysis. “We have illuminance calculations for every streetlight,” Dane explained. “We’re overlaying that with traffic collision data, crime reports, and even social equity indicators.” This method allows the team to pinpoint intersections with higher nighttime crash rates, as well as neighborhoods where lighting may contribute to safety or community character.

Interestingly, the data show no simple relationship between light levels and crime. “Sometimes more lighting correlates with more crime, sometimes with less,” Dane said. “For example, property crime has been shown to decrease when lighting is turned off because thieves can’t see what they want to steal.”

Public engagement has been a cornerstone of the project. Community meetings were held in both English and Spanish.

The team hopes this nuanced analysis will lead to smarter investments rather than blanket assumptions about brighter being better.

Their approach has already borne fruit: Santa Ana recently secured a $1 million Highway Safety Improvement Program grant to fund one of the priority projects identified in the master plan.

The timing was serendipitous—Dane recalled how the award announcement coincided with a public meeting where residents asked when improvements would start. “We were able to say, ‘Well, actually, we just got funding,’” he said.

Public engagement has been a cornerstone of the project. Community meetings were held in both English and Spanish, with simultaneous translation to ensure everyone could participate. Residents were invited to place stickers on maps to indicate areas of concern or interest. Top priorities identified included driver visibility, lighting for pedestrians, and neighborhood character.

Dane’s team also led “Lighting 101” sessions to educate the public on topics like glare, color temperature, and energy use.

Smart controls are another critical focus. Although Santa Ana’s fixtures are equipped with seven-pin receptacles for controls, the city has not yet invested in a system to dim or adjust them. Dane believes that implementing adaptive controls is the next logical step, especially since many areas are overlit. “With controls, you can dim fixtures to 50% and still meet IES criteria,” he said. “That not only saves energy but also reduces glare and light trespass.”

Beyond illumination, the plan examines how lighting intersects with social equity. Using historical redlining maps, the team identified areas where infrastructure has been neglected for decades. In some cases, these neighborhoods have less decorative pedestrian lighting and rely on basic cobra-head fixtures on wooden poles.

The master plan proposes targeted upgrades to improve safety and reinforce neighborhood identity.

Santa Ana’s commitment to careful planning over quick fixes reflects a broader trend. “Cities used to just replace everything without talking to residents,” Dane said. “Then the complaints would start—about brightness, glare, color. This process is about getting it right from the start.”

Dane sees this work as part of a larger shift in how cities think about lighting. “It’s no longer enough to install efficient fixtures and call it a day,” he said. “We have to consider human health, environmental impact, and the lived experience of the people who walk those streets every night.”

While the Santa Ana Lighting Master Plan is still being finalized, it already offers a model for other communities seeking to balance technology, sustainability, and public trust.

As Dane put it, “You have to set your design ego aside and listen. We have a lot to learn—and we can’t be afraid to keep learning.”

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