Avondale, AZ Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Section 28-137(a) of the zoning ordinance frames the purpose of Avondale's outdoor lighting article as ensuring minimal light trespass, reducing glare, increasing energy conservation, and protecting naturally dark skies for astronomical purposes. The rules cover buildings, outdoor recreation areas, parking lot lighting, and landscape lighting installed after June 4, 2002, excluding public streetlights. Under subsection (c)(4)(A), all permanent security, landscape, parking-area, architectural and decorative lighting must be fully shielded and directed downward at no more than a forty-five degree angle, with narrow exceptions for low-lumen residential fixtures under 1,000 lumens, decorative accent and pedestrian lighting mounted no higher than eight feet with under 2,000 lumens, and low-wattage string lights.

Pole-mounted fixtures generally top out at twenty-five feet, but drop to sixteen feet within seventy-five feet of a residential district and twelve feet for trail lighting. New parking-lot lighting must use LED luminaires, and mercury vapor fixtures are prohibited citywide under subsection (c)(4)(G). Every development or redevelopment project must submit a lighting plan under subsection (d), including fixture locations, luminaire specs, and a photometric plan measured in foot candles, before the standards can be verified.