Broomfield, CO Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

The Sign Code's general illumination standards in section 17-44-080(D) apply to every externally illuminated sign in the City and County of Broomfield. Under subsection (D)(2)(i), external lighting must be aimed only at the sign face without causing glare, and subsection (D)(2)(ii) goes further: the light source itself must be downcast and fully shielded, with a narrow exception for freestanding signs and flag poles, which may use fully shielded, targeted uplighting placed close to the base as long as it does not distract or threaten vehicle or aviation traffic.

Projecting light fixtures must stay simple and unobtrusive so they do not obscure the sign's graphics, under subsection (D)(2)(iii). Subsection (D)(3) caps the spillover at no more than 0.3 foot-candle of light detectable at the boundary of any neighboring property because of the sign, a limit that also governs digital sign brightness under section 17-44-080(E)(3)(vi). Outside the Sign Code, section 17-32-100 addresses off-street parking lot lighting directly, requiring that it be reflected away from residential areas, a rule that has stood since the parking chapter was adopted from Ordinance 149 in 1973.

Internally illuminated signs may not expose a bare light source, though neon or aesthetically equivalent tube lighting is allowed under subsection (D)(1)(i). Together these sections push outdoor lighting downward and inward toward the property it serves rather than outward toward the sky or a neighboring home, the same shielding, downcast, low-spillover approach that dark-sky ordinances elsewhere use, even though Broomfield's code does not use the phrase 'dark sky.'