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

100 sets Site Features standards for every Residential District in the city, and subsection E covers exterior lighting directly. Two rules apply to any fixture mounted outside a home: it must be shielded and pointed downward and away from the property line so its glare does not spread onto the neighbor's yard, and a motion-activated fixture is not allowed to fire off a sensor that is picking up movement happening on somebody else's land. Both duties sit alongside the section's other site-feature standards for Residential Districts, including required screening of garbage cans and utility meters and a landscaped buffer strip separating pedestrian walkways from driveways, so lighting is treated as one part of how a residential lot presents itself to its neighbors and the public right-of-way rather than a standalone nuisance rule.

The section was most recently amended by Ord. 8007-NS § 13 in 2026, on top of the original 2021 zoning ordinance adoption (Ord. 7787-NS § 2, Exh. A). 100) add height caps and sky-glow language for particular use types. 100(E) is the controlling standard: shield it, point it down and inward, and do not let a motion sensor answer for what happens on the property next door.