Travis County, TX Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Sec. " The code doesn't print the shielding, fixture-type or lumen specifics itself; it incorporates them by reference to the county's separate Conservation Development Design Manual, so a builder in a qualified project has to pull that manual rather than rely on the code text alone. The same section sets the companion energy targets a qualified project must hit alongside dark-sky compliance: residential construction needs at least 15% energy-use savings above the state Energy Code, or Energy Star attainment, and non-residential construction needs at least 20% savings above the state code.

Sec. 220 caps where any of this can apply at all: outside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of any municipality, so a project inside Austin's ETJ is not subject to this chapter's dark-sky requirement no matter how it's designed. Compliance isn't just a design-review checkbox: Sec. 235 requires the builder to keep a verification checklist on site, post a permanent certificate in the electrical distribution panel, and certify to the buyer and owners' association, at or before final sale or occupancy, that all conservation measures required by the subchapter, including the lighting standard, were installed.

The county can inspect a residential building up to 30 days after receiving the builder's pre-occupancy notice and review verification documents for up to 12 months after original occupancy, and commercial buildings face the same 12-month inspection window.