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

Section 6.5.3, 'Regulations and Standards,' sits inside UDO Chapter 6.5, Heavy Industrial Development, which the County Commissioners adopted to manage uses that 'by their very nature produce objectionable levels of aesthetic impact, traffic, noise, odors, vibrations, fumes, light, smoke, and/or other impacts' (Section 6.5.1). The lighting clause, Section 6.5.3(K), covers only the Class I, II and III uses listed in Section 6.5.2: Class I is fuel bulk storage, ready-mix concrete suppliers, inert debris landfills and renewable energy generating facilities; Class II is resource extraction, automobile salvage and chemical manufacturing; Class III is mining/quarrying, race tracks, asphalt plants, electricity generating facilities, non-inert landfills, paper mills, cement manufacturing, waste facilities, saw mills and metal recycling.

Agricultural farming and residential land uses are exempt by right under Section 6.5.2(b). Before construction, an operator must attend a pre-application meeting with Planning Staff at least 14 days ahead and then obtain an Intent-to-Construct Industrial Development Permit under Section 6.5.4, with a public hearing before the Planning Board; the Class I-III application fee is $350 with a $50 renewal fee (Appendix G). The site plan required for that permit, Appendix E, must include 'an exterior lighting plan showing locations of all lighting and proposed lighting fixtures,' giving the Planning Department the documentation to check whether IDA-style shielding was used.

A near-identical clause appears in Section 6.8, Solar Energy Systems Standards, showing the county treats dark-sky shielding as an industrial-use encouragement, not a general development standard reaching homes, retail, or office construction anywhere in the county.