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Village Of Oak Creek Named International Dark Sky Community

Big Park Village of Oak Creek
(Photo Dave Snowden - CC BY 2.0)
Approaching the Big Park area, better known as the Village of Oak Creek, from Sedona.

The Village of Oak Creek near Sedona is now an International Dark Sky Community.

Citizens of Big Park — better known as the Village of Oak Creek — lobbied for changes in the outdoor lighting code to earn the designation.

The code applies to all of Yavapai County. It requires outdoor lights to be shielded (so the bulb is only visible from below) and it prohibits most floodlights and high-intensity lights. 

The International Dark Sky Association offers the dark-sky designation to communities that combat light pollution with regulations and education.

Arizona is home to the largest grouping of dark sky communities in the world. The Village of Oak Creek joins Flagstaff, Sedona and the Kaibab-Paiute Nation.  There are 14 worldwide.  

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Melissa Sevigny is a reporter at KNAU in Flagstaff.