Freehold Township, NJ Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Freehold Township added a standalone lighting-nuisance rule to its Peace and Good Order chapter by Ordinance No. O. It bars artificial light from any structure or land that shines directly onto a neighboring, adjoining or adjacent property, that shines into a neighboring room, porch or patio so as to be a nuisance, that is maintained so as to be a nuisance to an adjoining property, that impairs vision through inordinate glare or creates a hazard, or that interrupts the reasonable quiet enjoyment of an adjoining property's occupants.

A second clause requires that exterior lighting facing a neighboring property be shielded so it does not produce objectionable or inordinate glare on that property. H(8), which requires outdoor lighting on a development site to be shielded to direct light only onto the premises and to be directed, shaded and focused away from all adjoining property, while still being bright enough to discourage vandalism and theft. The Peace and Good Order version is broader: it is a standing nuisance-lighting rule enforceable against any property in the township, residential or commercial, existing or new, not only against developments going through Planning Board site-plan review.

Chapter 232 sits among a list of other public-order offenses including disorderly conduct, property damage, fighting, and open-burning violations, all enforced under the chapter's own penalty section.