Beloit, WI Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

02(1). Subsection (1) requires all exterior lighting to follow the Illuminating Engineering Society's design standards, on file with the City Engineer, and to be restrained rather than excessively bright. Subsection (2) requires lighting for off-street parking and mandates that every fixture illuminating traffic ways, buildings or sites be a full cut-off type and directed away from adjoining and adjacent property, streets and public rights-of-way, effectively Beloit's shielding requirement for glare and light trespass. Pole height needs the Community Development Director's approval and cannot exceed 15 feet in residential developments, 25 feet in commercial developments or 35 feet in industrial developments.

Subsection (6) sets the actual brightness range: a minimum of one footcandle at the property line up to a maximum of 3 footcandles at the paved surface, with a uniformity ratio of 4:1 or better between the average and minimum levels. Landscape and pedestrian lighting fixtures must also be vandal-resistant and harmonize with the site design under subsections (3) and (4). Final sign-off on the entire lighting scheme rests with both the City Engineer and the Community Development Director under subsection (7), which separately bars any lighting directed toward pedestrian or vehicular traffic or adjacent properties in a manner that produces distracting glare.