Davis has a genuine dark-sky outdoor lighting ordinance, Article 8.17 (Outdoor Lighting Control) of the Davis Municipal Code, adopted as Ordinance 1966 in 1998. Its purpose is to minimize light pollution, glare, and light trespass and preserve the night sky, primarily by requiring outdoor light fixtures to be fully shielded.
DMC Article 8.17 defines light pollution as artificial light that harms the environment, astronomical research, or enjoyment of the night sky, or that causes undesirable glare or light trespass. Fully shielded means a fixture allowing no light above the horizontal plane from its lowest light-emitting point. Under the general requirements (Section 8.17.030), outdoor fixtures installed after the ordinance's effective date on commercial, industrial, or multifamily property must be fully shielded. Fixtures on public property or the right-of-way must also be fully shielded. Recreational-facility fixtures must be fully shielded except where that impairs required visibility. Fixtures legally installed before the ordinance are grandfathered until replaced or altered. Single-family residential lighting is not subject to the mandatory full-shielding requirement.
Installing non-shielded outdoor fixtures on regulated commercial, industrial, multifamily, public, or recreational property after the ordinance's effective date violates Article 8.17. Davis enforces through the building official and code enforcement, requiring correction to fully shielded standards.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
davis-ca
Davis Municipal Code Chapter 40 regulates fence height and placement under section 40.27.060 but does not, in the zoning provisions reviewed, expressly prohi...
davis-ca
Davis Municipal Code 40.27.060 sets fence height and placement rules including a corner-lot sight-visibility triangle where fences over three feet are prohib...
davis-ca
Davis Municipal Code 40.27.060 measures a fence on top of a retaining wall from the lowest existing grade within a three-foot radius to the highest point of ...
davis-ca
Davis addresses animal hoarding through the adopted Yolo County animal-control code and California animal-cruelty law. Keeping too many animals in unsanitary...
davis-ca
The City of Davis strongly discourages feeding wildlife such as coyotes and wild turkeys and manages them through wildlife plans. A 2018 ordinance to ban fee...
davis-ca
Davis has no leash law for cats and does not require cat licensing; Yolo County keeps cat licensing voluntary. Cats are regulated mainly through nuisance rul...
See how Davis's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.