Farmington Hills, MI Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Section 17-106 of the city's performance standards chapter regulates outdoor lighting with a dark-sky orientation built into its definitions and its operative rule. The section defines skyglow as the brightening of the nighttime sky from light scattered by moisture and dust in the atmosphere, caused by light directed or reflected upward or sideways, and defines a fully shielded luminaire as one built and installed so all light, whether direct or reflected, is projected below the horizontal plane through the fixture's lowest light-emitting part. Subsection (b)(8) then makes that definition operative: all light fixtures in the city must be fully shielded luminaires except where the section provides otherwise.

The lighting article layers additional shielding-related standards onto that baseline. Exterior lights rated over 1,400 lumens must be down-lit, arranged to reflect light away from residential districts and public streets, with the diffusing media totally shielded with opaque material on the top and all sides. Sodium and metal halide lamps are banned unless color-corrected. Flashing, moving or intermittent illumination is prohibited outright, and façade lighting must stay confined to the building face it is highlighting. Limited exemptions exist for roadway and airport lighting required by a public agency, approved construction lighting, minimally necessary flag lighting, and emergency lighting discontinued once the emergency ends. A property owner seeking relief from the shielding standards can apply to the zoning board of appeals, sitting as an administrative review board, for a special exception supported by a lighting consultant's review. Violating Section 17-106 is a municipal civil infraction under Section 17-107.