St. Louis County, MO Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

169's statement of intent requires outdoor lighting adequate for safety without spilling glare onto neighbors, and it exempts single-family and single-family-attached residences, street lighting, public monument and landmark lighting, sign lighting, temporary seasonal decorations, temporary construction and event lighting, and lighting regulated by the FAA. Anyone else proposing exterior lighting changes on a site plan must submit a plan showing pole locations, fixture heights, luminaire specs, initial lamp lumens, and a photometric footcandle diagram to the Director of Planning, who may waive the requirement. 1 footcandle onto adjoining NU, PS, or R district property and public rights-of-way, require an 85-degree maximum cutoff angle on every fixture except approved street lights, cap residential pole height at 16 feet and non-residential pole height at 25 feet (35 feet only if the pole sits at least 100 feet from a residential use on a lot over five acres), and require parking lots to use fully shielded, flat-lens enclosed luminaires.

Canopy-mounted fixtures must be recessed or flush so light stays within 85 degrees of vertical, upward-directed architectural and landscape lighting cannot show above the roofline or beyond the property line, and lighting must carry automatic controls that shut it off once daylight is sufficient. or one hour after the activity ends, whichever is later.