Maryland has no statewide dark-sky law, but Harford County's zoning code does regulate lighting. Section 267-79 requires that light be shaded, shielded, or directed so it does not reflect into residential lots or buildings, with lighting plans reviewed at site-plan approval.
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.
The Department of Planning and Zoning enforces the lighting standard through site-plan review and code enforcement, most often as a permit condition, requiring a noncompliant fixture to be reshielded, redirected, or lowered rather than issuing a criminal charge.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Harford County's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
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