Elgin, IL Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Section 19.13.125 of the Elgin Municipal Code is the city's glare-control rule, and it works in two parts. The first is a shielding test: a luminaire may not emit any direct light above a horizontal plane drawn through its lowest light-emitting part. In practice that means a fully cut-off fixture aimed down, not a bare bulb or an upward-tilted lamp. The second is a height cap: 25 feet maximum mounting height for the same fixtures when they stand within 50 feet of a residential property line or a public street right-of-way line.

Two lumen thresholds decide which fixtures are caught. An ordinary luminaire is covered when its lamp or lamps are rated at a total of more than 1,800 lumens. A spot or flood luminaire is covered at the lower figure of more than 900 lumens. Fixtures at or below those ratings fall outside this section.

The rule sits inside a larger chapter. Section 19.13.130 sets district standards that apply except as regulated by 19.13.125: a maximum average of 3 footcandles in the residential chapters 19.20 and 19.25, 4 in community facility chapter 19.30, and 5 in business chapter 19.35 and industrial chapter 19.40. Every district carries a 0.6 footcandle minimum on pavement and a 4:1 uniformity ratio, with luminaire height limits of 25, 30, 40 and 40 feet. Light spilling from community facility, business or industrial land onto residential zoned property or a public street right-of-way cannot exceed one-half horizontal footcandle. Single-family detached dwellings, and multiple-family dwellings with residential parking areas, are exempt from the chapter's standards when each outdoor lamp is rated at 100 watts or less.

Section 19.13.115 exempts public street lighting, temporary seasonal decorative lighting, specialized safety lighting such as airport or heliport lighting, and outdoor recreational uses such as ball diamonds, playing fields and tennis courts. Readings are taken with a direct reading, portable light meter, with horizontal footcandle measurements at 3½ feet above the ground (§ 19.13.135).