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Outdoor Lighting in Honolulu County, HI (2026)

2 rules for unincorporated Honolulu County, Hawaii.

Verified from official government sources

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

Dark Sky Rules

ROH § 21-4.100 requires every commercial and industrial use on Oahu to shield outdoor lighting with full cut-off fixtures so no light spills directly onto an adjoining country, residential, apartment, apartment mixed-use, or resort zoning district, and applies the same full cut-off shielding rule to uncovered rooftop gathering spaces so light stays within the gathering area itself.

Honolulu Full Cut-Off Outdoor Lighting Rule

Some Restrictions

ROH § 21-4.100

§ 21-4.100 Outdoor lighting. For any commercial or industrial use, outdoor lighting must be shielded with full cut-off fixtures to eliminate direct illumination to any adjacent country, residential, apartment, apartment mixed-use, or resort zoning district. For a rooftop gathering space that is not enclosed, outdoor lighting must be shielded, with full cut-off fixtures to eliminate direct illum...

Light Trespass & Shielding

City-installed street lighting fixtures in Honolulu must use full-cutoff or semi-cutoff designs that direct light downward, reducing glare and light pollution across Oahu.

Honolulu Street Lights Must Cut Off Light Pollution

Light Restrictions

Revised Ordinances of Honolulu § 2-36.2

All new and replacement municipal street lighting fixtures installed by the department of design and construction or the department of facility maintenance from July 1, 2013, shall be full-cutoff or semi-cutoff lighting fixtures. This section shall not apply to any street lighting fixture that is existing and legally installed, or planned and approved before July 1, 2013; provided that any stre...

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