Bakersfield, CA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

030, the general standards of Bakersfield's outdoor lighting chapter, contains two subsections that function as the city's dark-sky rule. Subsection F allows up-lighting only if it is "effectively contained and will not shine beyond the intended target into the night sky," and lists acceptable containment methods: overhanging architectural elements such as eaves or awnings, or landscaping such as dense shrubs or dense evergreen tree canopies. Subsection G applies the same containment standard to building-outline lighting, neon, LED, or similar fixtures used to trace a structure's silhouette, requiring it to be "effectively contained to not shine into the night sky" through architectural overhangs or backlighting techniques rather than bare exposed tubing.

010: protecting "the ability to view the night sky by restricting unnecessary upward projection of light" and preventing sky glow. 080's fixture diagrams. Because dark-sky containment is folded into the general standards, it applies to every outdoor fixture installed after the chapter's 2010 effective date (Ord. 020(E) whenever a property undergoes a discretionary approval. 020(D) lets the code enforcement manager order corrective containment on any legacy up-lighting or building-outline lighting found to create a nuisance or contribute measurably to sky glow over adjacent properties or public streets.