Yellowstone County has no dark-sky or outdoor-lighting ordinance for unincorporated land. County zoning near Billings limits glare that spills off a property (for example, home occupations may not create glare), but there is no shielding or lumen standard. Rural unzoned land sets no county rule.
Yellowstone County does not have a dedicated dark-sky lighting ordinance. The adopted Zoning Ordinance controls glare only indirectly: a home occupation, for example, may use "no equipment... which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors," and general nuisance and property-maintenance provisions apply, but there is no county requirement for full-cutoff fixtures, color temperature, or maximum lumen levels on ordinary residential lighting. On unzoned rural county land the county sets no lighting rule. Inside the City of Billings, the city zoning code addresses site lighting and glare for developments. If a neighbor's light is a genuine nuisance, County Code Enforcement or, inside the city, city zoning may review it under nuisance/glare standards.
There is no county dark-sky penalty. Glare that rises to a nuisance or violates a specific zoning condition (such as a home-occupation approval) can be addressed by Code Enforcement (406-652-2050) or, inside Billings, city zoning.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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