Outdoor Lighting in Duluth, MN (2026)
3 verified outdoor lighting rules for Duluth, Minnesota, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Dark Sky Rules
Any Duluth light fixture that emits more than 900 lumens, roughly a 60-watt incandescent bulb, must be shielded with a full cutoff fixture under IESNA standards. Non-security lighting must dim to 30 percent or shut off after hours, and LED color temperature is capped at 3000 Kelvin.
Duluth's Full Cutoff Lighting Shielding Rule
Some RestrictionsDuluth Legislative Code § 50-31.3.A, G, K
A. Any light source or lamp that emits more than 900 lumens (13 watt compact fluorescent or 60 watt incandescent) shall be concealed or shielded with an Illuminations Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) full cut-off style fixture with an angle not exceeding 90 degrees, with 90 percent of the light below 80 degrees. ... ... G. All outdoor light not necessary for security purposes shall ...
Light Trespass & Shielding
Duluth caps exterior lighting at the property line for multi-family, commercial, institutional and industrial sites: 0.5 footcandles for residential and agricultural uses and 1.0 footcandle for everything else, under the Unified Development Chapter's exterior lighting standards, adopted specifically to keep new lighting from spilling onto neighboring land.
Light Trespass Rules for Duluth Properties
Some RestrictionsDuluth Legislative Code §§ 50-31.2, 50-31.3.A-B, Table 50-31-1
If installed, all exterior lighting shall meet the functional security needs of the proposed land use without adversely affecting adjacent properties or the community. ... ... B. All lighting shall have the intensities and uniformity ratio consistent with the IESNA lighting handbook, and shall be designed and located so that the illumination measured in footcandles at the finished grade shall c...
Billboard Lighting
Duluth regulates billboard illumination separately from ordinary business-sign lighting. Under the Unified Development Chapter, an electronic billboard's brightness is capped at 5,000 nits by day and 500 nits from dusk to dawn, and every electronic billboard must carry an automatic dimmer that steps the light down before sunset and back up after sunrise.
Billboard Lighting Rules in Duluth
Some RestrictionsDuluth Legislative Code §§ 50-27.4, 50-27.7.E.6(c)
The following illumination standards apply to on-premises signs. Illumination of billboards (off-premises) are regulated separately in Section 50-27.7. Additional illumination requirements for electronic message signs are found in Section 50-27.7. ... The maximum brightness of an electronic billboard is limited to 5,000 nits or 464 candelas per square foot during daylight hours, and 500 nits or...
Looking for St. Louis County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Duluth city rules.
Outdoor Lighting in St. Louis County →