Outdoor Lighting in Albemarle County, VA (2026)

3 rules for unincorporated Albemarle County, Virginia.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Albemarle County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Dark Sky Rules

Albemarle County's outdoor lighting ordinance, Sec. 4.17, states its purpose is to protect dark skies and adjacent property from light spillover and glare. Sec. 4.17.4(a) backs that purpose with a hard rule: every outdoor luminaire covered by the ordinance on qualifying commercial, industrial, residential or Rural Areas property must be a full cutoff fixture.

Albemarle County Dark-Sky Lighting Rules

Some Restrictions

Albemarle County Code §§ 18-4.17.1, 18-4.17.4(a)

The purposes of these outdoor lighting regulations are to protect dark skies, to protect the general welfare by controlling the spillover of light onto adjacent properties, and to protect the public safety by preventing glare from outdoor luminaires. ... a.Except as provided in section 4.17.6, each outdoor luminaire subject to these outdoor lighting regulations shall be a full cutoff luminaire.

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Light Trespass & Shielding

Albemarle County caps light trespass at one-half foot candle under Sec. 4.17.4(b): spillover from an outdoor luminaire onto a public road or an adjoining residential or Rural Areas property cannot exceed that level, measured at the property line. Fixtures on covered parcels must also be arranged or shielded to keep light off adjoining residential districts.

Albemarle County Light Trespass Limit

Some Restrictions

Albemarle County Code § 18-4.17.4(b)

b.Each parcel, except those containing only one or more single-family detached dwellings, shall comply with the following: ... 1.The spillover of lighting from luminaires onto public roads and property in residential or rural areas zoning districts shall not exceed one-half foot candle. A spillover shall be measured horizontally and vertically at the property line or edge of right-of-way or eas...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Billboard Lighting

Albemarle County's Zoning Ordinance prohibits billboards entirely under Sec. 4.15.8(c)(4), so no billboard-lighting standard exists separately: a billboard, defined as a freestanding off-site sign exceeding 32 square feet, cannot legally exist anywhere in the county outside Charlottesville and Scottsville, and any lighting scheme built for one is automatically unlawful along with the sign itself.

Albemarle County Bans Billboards Outright

Heavy Restrictions

Albemarle County Code § 18-4.15.8(c)(4)

Billboard. "Billboard" means a freestanding off-site sign that exceeds 32 square feet in sign area. ... c.Certain sign types. Signs that are: ... 4.Billboards.

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

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