Pierce County, WA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

085, "Exterior Illumination," applies to new residential developments and to civic, commercial, or industrial uses, plus any multi-family, civic, commercial, or industrial expansion exceeding 60 percent of the building's value; that 60 percent trigger is cumulative for the project site over time and calculated by the Building Official, with only the expanded area subject to the standards. The design objective is to reduce light impacts on neighbors while avoiding and minimizing glare and light trespass beyond the illuminated area. The standards go well beyond a single shielding line: light bulbs themselves must be hidden from public view (streetlights and holiday lights excepted); pedestrian areas, building entries, walkways and parking lots must carry at least 1 footcandle of illumination; fixture housings must be totally opaque with no clear or refractive lens extending below the housing; lighting of landscaped areas is prohibited unless it is part of the immediate building landscape or serves a recreational area; and large areas must use multiple low-intensity sources rather than one high-intensity source.

Pole lights are capped at 35 feet above a 36-inch base in parking and traffic areas and at 12 feet in pedestrian areas, and all exterior building illumination must come from an indirect source. 8 bans translucent back-lit panels, lighting that flashes, chases, changes color, or changes intensity for any purpose other than acting as a safety light, and laser lighting outright. Building-mounted floodlights must aim downward and be shielded from above so the shield's bottom edge sits at or below the light source, and any fixture illuminating the building that is not building-mounted must be screened with plant material.

Mounting hardware cannot allow post-installation adjustment that lets a luminaire be aimed upward or otherwise defeats compliance. Color temperature is capped at 3000 Kelvin maximum (with ANSI tolerance), and brightness must be minimized to the level actually needed for the application. Section B, Exemptions, is marked "[Reserved]" in the current code, meaning no project is currently carved out of these standards, and the guidelines in Section E further recommend turning off non-essential lighting after business hours and using sensor-activated fixtures for security.