Allentown, PA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Section 660-82.J of the Zoning Ordinance (Ord. No. 16166, effective January 1, 2026) sets Allentown's light-and-glare performance standard, which applies to every use in the chapter unless another section states otherwise. City, state, or public-utility street lighting is exempt, but everything else, including illuminated signs, is covered. Diffusion comes first: all light sources, including signs, must be properly diffused with a translucent or similar cover to prevent the lighting element from being directly visible from streets, public sidewalks, dwellings or adjacent lots, and the code separately bars hanging five or more bare incandescent bulbs of 40 watts or greater along a public street or an abutting property.

Shielding is a separate, layered requirement: light sources must be shielded around the light source and directed and placed to prevent the lighting from creating a nuisance to persons in adjacent dwellings or undeveloped residentially zoned areas, and to prevent glare into the eyes of passing motorists. That standard reaches beyond developed lots, protecting vacant residentially zoned land from spillover glare, and it separately protects drivers on adjacent roads. Flashing, flickering, or strobe lighting is prohibited outright, with one carve-out: seasonal holiday lighting is allowed only between October 25 and January 10 each year. The same performance standards extend to parking-area lighting; § 660-83's parking-lot lighting rules cross-reference back to § 660-82.J for the underlying glare and shielding test.