Boulder Revised Code §9-9-16 is one of the strictest urban dark-sky ordinances in Colorado. Fully-shielded fixtures, 3000K color-temperature cap, lumen budget per acre, and 10:00 PM curfew on non-essential lighting. Sensitive overlay zones near open space have a 2700K cap and stricter trespass limits.
Boulder Revised Code §9-9-16 was strengthened in 2020 to create one of the strictest urban dark-sky ordinances in the Front Range. All new outdoor luminaires must be fully shielded, and color temperature is capped at 3000 Kelvin citywide with a 2700 Kelvin sub-cap in the Sensitive Open Space Overlay protecting the city's 45,000-acre open-space ring. Each parcel receives a lumen budget per net acre that combines all outdoor lighting; for residential the cap is roughly 50,000 lumens per acre and for commercial roughly 100,000. Non-essential lighting — signage, decorative landscape, parking lots after close — must be extinguished or motion-activated by 10:00 PM. Light trespass into open space may not exceed 0.1 foot-candles at the property line. Boulder is not yet IDA-certified, but the city and Boulder County have worked with the International Dark-Sky Association on the model ordinance language, and Boulder County operates a dark-sky lighting rebate program for residents who retrofit fixtures.
Citations start at $250 per fixture per day and escalate to $1,000 for continuing violations under Boulder Revised Code §5-2-4. Building permits and Certificates of Occupancy require lighting compliance. Repeat violators face administrative orders requiring full retrofit.
Boulder, CO
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Boulder, CO
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Boulder, CO
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Boulder, CO
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Boulder, CO
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Boulder, CO
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