Skagit County, WA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

300(5) sets out buffering measures the county says are meant to cut down on noise, vibration, dust and other industrial impacts near homes, and to protect privacy and aesthetics where the Bayview Ridge Light Industrial zone abuts residential land. Subsection (5)(b) is the lighting rule itself: any outdoor lighting within 250 feet of a residential zone must be full cutoff, meaning it cannot be a fixture design that lets light spill unshielded toward neighboring homes. The same subsection pairs the lighting standard with two related buffers: under (5)(a), truck loading and maneuvering areas cannot sit within 250 feet of a residential zone unless the loading area is on the far side of a building from that zone, and under (5)(c), roof or facade-mounted mechanical equipment within 100 feet of a residential zone must be architecturally screened so it is not visible from adjoining residential zones or public streets.

Applicants developing light-industrial parcels in Bayview Ridge, an unincorporated area near Anacortes and the airport, must show compliance with these buffering measures as part of Title 14 permit review before Planning and Development Services will issue site plan approval. This is the only outdoor lighting standard anywhere in the Skagit County Code; parcels outside the BR-LI buffer area, and outside Bayview Ridge generally, are not subject to a shielding requirement under Title 14. Because the lighting rule is tied to zoning, it travels with site plan and building permit review rather than being enforced as a stand-alone lighting ordinance.