Brockton, MA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Sec. 27-155 sets the design standards that apply to every development project within the TSSGOD, the smart growth overlay district created under Ord. No. c. 40R. Subsection (3), Site lighting, is a two-part rule: clause (a) bars lighting from creating overspill onto adjacent properties or upwards into the night sky, with an exception carved out for the uplighting allowance in clause (b). That exception permits uplighting only for three narrow purposes: lighting building entrances, lighting site signage, and lighting architectural features, meaning a general floodlight aimed skyward to illuminate a facade at large is not covered by the carve-out.

Clause (c) separately encourages, but does not mandate, lighting along sidewalks and paths connecting buildings, public spaces and parking areas. The TSSGOD design standards sit alongside the site plan review process, so a project's lighting plan is reviewed by the approving authority before a permit issues rather than policed after the fact by a separate lighting inspector. The same overspill-and-night-sky language also appears in the design standards for Brockton's other smart growth overlay district in the Downtown, showing the city treats skyward light spill as a standard design concern across its overlay zoning rather than a one-off local quirk.