Franklin County, NC Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

UDC § 6.8.3.A sets the baseline shielding rule: all exterior lighting must be shielded or directed away from any adjacent use or lot or any adjacent public street. Section 6.8.3.D adds a specific standard for floodlights, allowing them on the rear of nonresidential or mixed-use buildings only where they don't face residential uses or residentially zoned property and aren't visible from public or private roadways; where used, the fixture must be aimed down at least 45 degrees from vertical and fitted with glare shields to cut glare.

These design standards flow from § 6.8.2, which requires any development that must file a site plan, meaning nonresidential, multi-family or mixed-use projects with outdoor lighting beyond ordinary residential door lights, to submit a detailed exterior lighting plan covering fixture type, cutoff design, wattage, wiring routing and mounting heights, plus proof the lighting is directed downward and won't spill onto adjacent properties. Section 6.8.1 separately bans string lighting visible from the right-of-way when used to draw attention to a structure, treating it like prohibited attention-getting signage.

The Planning Department reviews these plans at site plan submittal, and because the standards sit inside the Unified Development Ordinance, violations are enforced under Article 3: the Administrator can issue a correction order and, if uncorrected, impose a civil penalty up to $500 or pursue a Class 3 misdemeanor charge, with appeal to the Board of Adjustment.