Harford County, MD Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

There is no Maryland statute imposing dark-sky lighting on private property, so the rule in Harford County is the county's own zoning code. Section 267-79 requires that lighting be designed and controlled so that any light is shaded, shielded, or directed so its intensity does not adversely affect vehicles or reflect into residential lots or buildings, and mixed-use and commercial projects submit a lighting plan for review by the Department of Planning and Zoning. These shielding rules bite hardest on new commercial, mixed-use, and multifamily development rather than a single existing home. Along the Bush, Gunpowder, and Susquehanna shorelines, the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area program adds habitat-protective siting and screening review near tidal water.