Jackson County, GA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Article 17 of the Unified Development Code opens by finding that careless outdoor lighting damages the nighttime environment and that the naturally dark, star-filled sky is worth protecting (Sec. 1701). Section 1703 applies the article to all private outdoor lighting installed in unincorporated Jackson County. Section 1705 is the operative standard: every luminaire installed after the October 2, 2017 ordinance must be a full cutoff fixture, or otherwise emit no direct light above the horizontal plane through its lowest light-emitting part. Wallpacks, defined in Section 1702 as wall-mounted luminaires, are singled out and are never permitted unless fully shielded, and security lighting must also be full cutoff unless it is activated only by a motion sensor.

Section 1704 carves out several categories from the whole division, including temporary emergency lighting for sheriff, police or fire, federally required hazard warning lights, vehicular luminaires, safety lighting, gas-flame fixtures and qualifying holiday lights. Article 17 also flatly prohibits strobe lights and laser or searchlight beams projected into the sky (Sec. 1708), and it requires anyone applying for a development permit to submit a lighting plan showing compliance before the permit issues (Sec. 1709). The Public Development Director reviews that plan, and separate intensity limits measured at three feet above grade apply under a companion table in Article 17.