Dearborn, MI Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

12 of the Dearborn Zoning Ordinance regulates outdoor lighting citywide with the stated purpose of eliminating light that "unnecessarily contributes to sky glow and energy consumption" while also protecting driver safety and neighbors' privacy. 6, Fixtures: every outdoor fixture, including building-mounted ones, must be a full cut-off, shielded fixture, and poles must be a fixed height, since adjustable poles are flatly prohibited. 5-foot base) for parking-lot lights near a residential district, 20 feet for sidewalk and pathway lighting, and 8 feet for residential ground-pole fixtures.

The Planning Commission may approve decorative fixtures as an alternative to the shielding standard, but only as part of a site plan review and only on a finding that the design produces no off-site glare or illumination and improves the site's appearance; the same latitude applies to fixtures over 30 feet in commercial or industrial districts more than 200 feet from residential zoning. 5, all site lighting fixtures must be turned off one hour after close of business unless needed for safety, in which case they must be dimmed to the minimum level necessary.

A short list of exemptions in subsection F carves out porch lights capped at a 150-watt-equivalent bulb, public right-of-way streetlights, emergency and utility-construction lighting, and ball-field lighting that must go dark within an hour of an event ending. Government and public-utility sites may instead submit a Site Security Plan to the Zoning Administrator seeking a deviation, approvable only on findings that the lighting is necessary for public protection, that there is a documented theft, damage, or safety risk, and that the deviation will not adversely affect neighboring areas.