Fort Bend County, TX Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Shielding trigger
- luminaires over 1800 lumens
- LZ1 streetlight uplight limit
- 0.0% (full cutoff only)
- LZ2 / LZ3 uplight limit
- 0.5% / 2.0%
- Compliance grace period
- 90 days after notice
- Adopted
- March 23, 2004
Summary
New outdoor luminaires over 1800 lumens in unincorporated Fort Bend County must be shielded by lamp type, and streetlights near the George Observatory must emit zero uplight under the county's outdoor lighting order.
An outdoor luminaire with a total luminous flux greater than 1800 lumens must be shielded according to lamp type as set forth in the following table... Outdoor luminaires with lamps requiring full shielding according to Subsection 4.2 Paragraph (a) must be aimed so as to prevent direct radiation of light into the open sky at any angle above the horizontal plane.
Full Breakdown
Fort Bend County's Orders for Regulation of Outdoor Lighting (adopted March 23, 2004, last amended August 29, 2006) require any new outdoor luminaire producing more than 1800 lumens to be fully or partially shielded depending on lamp type, and aimed to prevent light from radiating above the horizontal plane. Fixtures at or below 1800 lumens are exempt from shielding but must still be aimed to avoid the open sky. The county also splits itself into three lighting zones radiating out from Brazos Bend State Park's George Observatory: new ornamental streetlights in Zone LZ1 (closest to the observatory) must emit 0.0% zonal fixture uplight (full cutoff only), rising to 0.5% in LZ2 and 2.0% in LZ3.
Violations & Fines
Written notice is issued first; fines apply only if the violation isn't corrected within 90 days, with each additional non-compliant day a separate offense. Developers can also be ordered to halt further lighting work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all outdoor lights in Fort Bend County need shielding?
Why does Fort Bend County have lighting zones?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Bend County
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Fort Bend County to another location·View the Texas outdoor lighting overview
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