Fountain Valley, CA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Exterior lighting in the City of Fountain Valley is governed by § 21.18.060 of the Development Code, which applies to structures, additions and uses in every zoning district under Chapter 21.18. Subsection (a) requires fixtures to be architecturally compatible with the surrounding structures, energy efficient, and appropriate in height, intensity and scale to the use they serve.

Subsection (b) puts numbers on parking lot lighting. Light projected onto any ground or wall surface must measure at least two foot-candles and no more than five foot-candles at the base of the fixture. The applicant's electrical plan or lighting plan has to show how light disperses across the ground surface and that the lot meets those figures. Building-mounted decorative lights are capped at five foot-candles measured five feet from the light source. Subsection (c) adds a separate floor and ceiling for security lighting in nonresidential districts: entrances and exits get a minimum of two and a maximum of three foot-candles at ground level.

The shielding rule is subsection (d). Where a light source can be seen from outside the project boundary, shielding is required to reduce glare, so that neither the bulb nor its reflection off a shiny surface is directly visible from any point five feet or more beyond the property line. Single-family residential uses, traffic safety lighting and public street lighting are excluded from that requirement.

The City Council adopted this chapter as Ordinance 1308 in 2000. Chapter 21.18 also says the general standards give way to the standards of the specific zoning district in Chapters 21.04 through 21.14 where the two conflict, so a project's district rules and its approved plans are worth checking alongside this section.