Fort Lauderdale, FL Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Section 6-49 states the city's policy plainly: no artificial light shall illuminate any area of the incorporated beaches of Fort Lauderdale. Building and electrical plans for any new single-family, multifamily, hotel, commercial or community-facility structure whose lighting could be seen from the beach, including parking lots and dune walkovers, must comply with 13 numbered design standards. Exterior fixtures within line-of-sight of the beach must be fully shielded downlight fixtures or use low-wattage bug-type bulbs of 50 watts or less; floodlights, upward-facing lights and spotlights visible from the beach are prohibited outright; pole lights must be shielded so no light escapes seaward; and balcony and catwalk lighting must use low-profile luminaires or hooded wall fixtures.

Windows and glass doors facing the beach on multi-story buildings must carry tinted glass or removable shade screens with a shading coefficient of 45 percent or less. Temporary construction security lights cannot exceed 15 feet in height and must not spread past the property line. The rule applies only to new development; section 6-50 exempts structures that already held a building permit before the division took effect, shifting them instead to the retrofit timeline in section 6-51. The whole division implements Ordinance No. C-03-9, adopted February 18, 2003, to protect loggerhead, green, leatherback, hawksbill and Kemp's ridley sea turtles that nest on the city's beaches between March 1 and October 31.