Sandoval County, NM Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

5), the La Cueva Design Overlay Zone (OZ-LC), applies its Design Standards to all new non-residential development and to any expansion of an existing non-residential use within the mapped overlay, regardless of the underlying zoning district. Before the county approves construction plans under Section 15(G), the applicant must submit a site development plan to the Zoning Officer showing the project meets these standards. Subsection C(7) sets the outdoor lighting rules: fixtures must be shielded so light is projected at 45 degrees from the emission point, fixtures used for security, walkways, equipment yards, and parking lots must be shielded, all light must be focused downward, and fixtures are capped at 16 feet in height.

Owners of lighting installed before the Ordinance's effective date have two years to alter or replace non-conforming fixtures. Because these standards sit inside the design-standards subsection triggered by Section 15(G) plan review, a project that ignores them can be held up before it ever reaches the building-permit stage, not just cited afterward. 4)(E)(3)) and in the West Placitas, Las Placitas, and Ideal Acres/San Francisco community districts, showing the county applies one dark-sky design template everywhere it has adopted district-level design standards, even though no single section imposes it countywide.