Glendale, CA Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Billboard curfew
- Sunset to 10:30 p.m.
- Trigger
- 60-day fuel shortage declared, §13.48.020
- First violation
- 3-day notice before service cutoff
- Repeat violation
- Immediate disconnection, no notice
- Appeal
- To city council under Chapter 2.88
- Origin
- Prior Code §8-70, 1970s energy crisis
Summary
Glendale's Nonessential Energy Use ordinance sets exact billboard lighting hours: sunset to ten-thirty p.m., once the city activates Chapter 13.48 during a declared fuel shortage. Municipal Code Section 13.48.010 also caps outdoor sign, floodlighting and holiday-display hours, backed by Glendale Water and Power's authority to cut electric service to violators.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (A)(1) of this section, each business establishment may operate its window and display lighting and illuminate two outdoor signs between the hours of sunset and one-half hour after closing or ten-thirty p.m., whichever is later, and each billboard may be illuminated between the hours of sunset and ten-thirty p.m. Each business establishment may operate time temperature signs and each business and public entity, public utility and other public agency may during normal business hours and until the hour of ten-thirty p.m. operate architectural or decorative lighting and/or decorative fountains with or without lighting and devices to rotate or move advertising signs. Each year between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day, Christmas decorations may be illuminated at places of business and residence between the hours of sunset and one-half hour after closing of the business or midnight, whichever is later. Lighting may be used for outdoor sporting or cultural events until the hour of ten-thirty p.m.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4983441; v20 updated 2026-05-19).
Full Breakdown
Glendale's billboard curfew lives in Title 13's energy-conservation chapter, not the sign code. 020, that sixty days' fuel consumption will exceed the available supply and publishes notice in the city's official newspaper. , the same curfew applied to business floodlighting, architectural and decorative lighting, and devices that rotate advertising signs. m. Christmas displays get a wider window each year between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, running to midnight or one-half hour after closing. 010(B)(2). 030.
Violations & Fines
A first violation draws a three-day written notice from the director of public service warning that Glendale Water and Power will cut off electric service if the billboard or business keeps operating outside the sunset-to-ten-thirty curfew; the person must acknowledge in writing the need to conserve electricity before service resumes. Section 13.48.040 authorizes discontinuing service without any further notice for a second or later violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Glendale's billboard lighting curfew in effect right now?
What happens if a billboard stays lit past ten-thirty p.m. during an active curfew?
Do business signs get the same curfew as billboards?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Glendale
California rules heatmap·Compare Glendale to another location·View the California outdoor lighting overview
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How other cities in Los Angeles County handle billboard lighting.