Charlottesville, VA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Development Code Sec. 1 states the division's intent is to limit environmental impacts from artificial lighting, minimize sky glow and glare, and curtail degradation of the night-time visual environment. Sec. A bans several light sources outright: cobra-head fixtures with dished or drop lenses that are not LED, temporary searchlights or other high-intensity narrow-beam fixtures that move or shine directly up into the sky, and lasers or other devices that emit light through stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. Sec. 4 then requires all light fixtures to be fully-shielded luminaires, with one narrow exception: non-cutoff, unshielded fixtures may be used only when the maximum initial lumens generated by each fixture are less than 1,600 lumens.

Flood lighting gets its own shielding regime under Sec. D: floodlights must run only on motion sensors with a 15-minute timer, must be aimed at least 45 degrees down from vertical or have the bulb shielded from view below the fixture, and any floodlight within 50 feet of a right-of-way must be aimed perpendicular to it within a 15-degree horizontal tolerance. Flood lamps specifically must be aimed at least 60 degrees down from horizontal or shielded so the light is not visible from adjacent properties or the street.

Wall pack fixtures under Sec. 2 must always be fully-shielded, and any upward-directed accent lighting for architecture, landscaping or art is capped at 1,600 lumens per fixture and must be aimed to minimize spill into the night sky.