Prince William County, VA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Residential property-line limit
- 0.5 foot-candles maximum
- Parking lot fixtures
- Full cut-off design required
- Max parking pole height
- 30 feet
- High-security area cap
- 30 foot-candles, drops after hours
- Security light exemption
- Motion-activated, 15 minutes or less
- Governing sections
- Secs. 32-250.201 to 32-250.208
Summary
Prince William County requires all outdoor lighting fixtures on parking lots and buildings to be full cut-off and shielded so they cannot cast glare onto neighboring properties, and caps nonresidential lighting at just 0.5 foot-candles at any property line bordering a home or farm. Flashing, revolving and searchlight-style fixtures are banned outright.
1.All outdoor lighting fixtures shall be designed, shielded, aimed, located and maintained to shield adjacent properties and to not produce glare onto adjacent properties or roadways. Parking lot light fixtures and light fixtures on buildings shall be full cut-off fixtures.2.Street lighting shall be provided in accordance with the requirements of the Design and Construction Standards Manual.3.Flashing, revolving, or intermittent exterior lighting visible from any property line or street shall be prohibited. High intensity light beams, such as, but not limited to, outdoor searchlights, lasers or strobe lights shall be prohibited.4.In parking lots, light fixture poles shall not be more than 30 feet in height, unless modified pursuant to either section 32-300.05 or 32-400.03.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 46 Update 4).
Full Breakdown
The county's outdoor lighting standards sit in Division 12 of the Zoning Ordinance, Secs. 208, added in their current form by Ord. No. 04-78 in December 2004 to curb glare, light trespass, overlighting and skyglow. The general standard in Sec. 202 requires every outdoor light fixture to be designed, shielded, aimed, located and maintained to shield adjacent properties and to not produce glare onto adjacent properties or roadways, and specifically mandates full cut-off fixtures for parking lots and building-mounted lights. Flashing, revolving or intermittent exterior lighting visible from any property line or street is prohibited outright, as are searchlights, lasers and strobe lights.
Parking lot poles are capped at 30 feet unless a taller pole is approved under the height provisions of Sec. 03. Sec. 203 layers numeric foot-candle ceilings on top of the shielding rule for nonresidential uses: five foot-candles for parking lots, ten foot-candles along building fronts and drive aisles, and up to 30 foot-candles for high-security areas like ATMs and fuel canopies, which must drop to ten foot-candles after the business closes. 5 foot-candles at any property line shared with land zoned, used, or planned for residential or agricultural use, the county's core dark-sky protection for rural and residential neighbors.
Sec. 206 extends the shielding requirement to spotlights and floodlights aimed at buildings, signs or landscaping, requiring full cut-off or directionally shielded fixtures aimed so light does not spill past the illuminated object, shine into a residential window, or point into a roadway. Only a narrow set of uses are exempt under Sec. 207: airport lighting, flag lighting, motion-activated security lights that run 15 minutes or less, and temporary construction or emergency lighting. Every outdoor lighting installation submitted with a site or building permit must include a photometric plan certified by a licensed lighting engineer under Sec. 208.
Violations & Fines
Installing unshielded fixtures, exceeding the 0.5 foot-candle spillover limit at a residential or agricultural property line, or running flashing or searchlight-style lighting is a Zoning Ordinance violation the Zoning Administrator can order corrected under Article X. An uncorrected violation is a misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $1,000.00 under Sec. 32-1000.02, and most lighting infractions are billed instead as a civil penalty starting at $200.00 for a first summons under Sec. 32-1000.03.
Frequently Asked Questions
How bright can a business's parking lot lights be at my property line?
Are floodlights on a building regulated?
Is any outdoor lighting exempt from these rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Prince William County
Compare Prince William County to another location·View the Virginia outdoor lighting overview
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