2 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Ada County, Idaho.
Verified from official government sources
Ada County's outdoor-lighting standards regulate glare and up-lighting to protect nighttime skies. Fixtures over 260 lumens must have an opaque top to prevent up-lighting; fixtures at 1,800 lumens or more require a full cut-off shield. Mercury-vapor lamps and skyward lasers are prohibited.
Ada County Code 8-3-8(F)(3)
One Thousand Eight Hundred (1,800) Lumens or More. Light fixtures that have a maximum output of one thousand eight hundred (1,800) lumens or more shall have a 'full cut off shield.'
Ada County limits light spilling onto neighbors. In commercial or industrial settings, the effective zone of light from bright fixtures may not trespass onto abutting residential property. In rural, transitional, and residential districts, higher poles require greater setbacks from the property line.
Ada County Code 8-3-8(F)(7)(b)(1)
Within a commercial or industrial base district, or a commercial or industrial type use within a rural or transitional base district, the effective zone of light (as documented by the photometric test report) shall not trespass on abutting residential properties.
1 cities in Ada County have their own outdoor lighting rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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