Tempe, AZ Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Section 4-803(C)(5)(g) of the Zoning and Development Code addresses billboard illumination directly within the chapter's fixture-design rules: lighting fixtures used to illuminate an outdoor advertising sign must be mounted on top of the sign structure and must comply with the chapter's shielding requirements. That ties billboard lighting back into the same full-cutoff and lumen-cap framework covering every other outdoor fixture, Section 4-803(C)(5)(b) through (d), which classifies fixtures as full-cutoff (any output up to the 40 foot-candle general cap), non-cutoff filtered (1,700-lumen cap for white or opal lenses), or non-cutoff non-filtered (600-lumen cap for clear or prismatic lenses).

Because top-mounting keeps the light source above the sign face pointing downward, it functions as the shielding method for billboard structures rather than a separate lumen table. As with all exterior lighting under Section 4-801(B), the fixture design must be submitted for Community Development Director approval as part of the sign permit application, backed by a photometric plan under Section 4-802, before installation.