Cathedral City, CA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Chapter 9.89 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code, adopted by the City Council as Ordinance 602 in 2005 and carried forward by Ordinance 862 in 2022, states its purpose as keeping ambient lighting as low as possible and maintaining dark skies. Section 9.89.050 does the core work. A fully shielded fixture projects light rays only below a horizontal plane through the lowest point where light is emitted. A partially shielded fixture has its shield bottom edge below the centerline of the lamp. Table A then assigns a level by lamp type: high pressure sodium, metal halide, fluorescent, quartz and mercury vapor fixtures must be fully shielded, incandescent lamps greater than 160 watts must be fully shielded, and incandescent lamps of 160 watts or less need only partial shielding.

Fossil fuel lights and neon, argon or krypton glass tubes carry no shielding requirement. Other sources are set by the city planner. Section 9.89.060 prohibits unshielded outdoor illumination of any building, landscaping or signing, bans new mercury vapor fixtures, and bans lighting inside transparent or translucent awnings. Anyone installing fixtures other than incandescent lights of 160 watts or less applies to the city planner under § 9.89.070. Section 9.89.080 leaves legally installed older fixtures in place until they are changed or replaced, exempts government facilities, and limits recreational field lighting after ten p.m. Section 9.89.110 caps parking lot light poles at eighteen feet and requires one foot candle across the parking surface.