Baltimore County has no formal dark-sky lighting ordinance. Outdoor lighting is instead controlled through the Baltimore County Zoning Regulations' performance and glare standards and sign-illumination rules, which limit light and glare that spills onto neighboring residential property.
Baltimore County does not have a stand-alone dark-sky or full-cutoff lighting ordinance for private residential fixtures. Lighting is regulated indirectly: the BCZR performance standards restrict glare and light spillover onto adjacent properties, and sign illumination is limited under Section 450. The county's zone-specific performance standards (for example the RC-6 and RC-7 rural conservation zones) cap footcandle levels at property lines. Because there is no general dark-sky mandate, homeowners are chiefly bound by the requirement that lighting not create a nuisance or trespass onto neighboring residential lots. Individual municipalities and homeowners associations within the county may impose stricter lighting rules.
Lighting that produces excessive glare or spillover onto a neighbor's property can be addressed as a nuisance or zoning performance-standard violation enforced by the county.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Baltimore County's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
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