Dunedin regulates outdoor lighting through its Land Development Code and zoning chapters, requiring shielded fixtures, glare control, and sea-turtle-friendly lighting in coastal areas. The city is not a designated International Dark Sky community but enforces Florida's coastal lighting model ordinance.
Dunedin's Land Development Code (Chapters 103-107) requires that outdoor lighting on commercial, multi-family, and parking lot installations be designed to minimize glare, light trespass, and sky glow. Fixtures must be full cutoff or fully shielded for higher-output lamps, and pole heights, lumen levels, and uniformity ratios are reviewed at site-plan approval. Properties along the Gulf coast must use sea-turtle-safe lighting under Florida's Model Lighting Ordinance for Marine Turtle Protection during nesting season (May 1 - October 31), using long-wavelength amber LEDs, low mounting heights, and shielded fixtures. The city offers compliance guidance and has paired regulation with rebates for shielded retrofits.
Code enforcement can require shielding retrofits, fixture replacement, and curfew compliance. Sea-turtle lighting violations during nesting season can also trigger FWC citations and federal Endangered Species Act exposure.
See how other cities in Pinellas County handle dark sky rules.
See how Dunedin's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
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