Lake Forest, CA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 9.60.020(A)(3)
- Fixture rule
- Recessed or hooded, downward directed
- Applies to
- New multifamily residential projects
- Legal basis
- Gov. Code § 65913.4 (SB 35)
Summary
Lake Forest's objective design standards for new multifamily housing, adopted to satisfy a California housing-law mandate, require all outdoor lighting fixtures to be recessed or hooded and directed downward.
Lighting shall be recessed or hooded and downward directed.
4. All surface level parking areas, covered and uncovered, shall be screened from public streets. Screening shall be accomplished through building placement, landscaping, a planted berm, decorative fencing with vines, topography, or some combination of the above. Landscaping used for screening purposes must be no less than two feet wide (from the back of the sidewalk or street curb to the parking lot paving, whichever is greater) and no less than 42 inches in height.
5. Structured parking shall be designed such that all lighting is fully shielded and automobile headlamps within the structure are not visible from adjacent buildings, parcels, or streets. The minimum height of screening for automobile headlights shall be 42 inches in height.
6. Parking areas shall be separated from any building by a sidewalk or landscaping with a minimum width of five feet.
B. Building Design.
1. Blank walls (façades without doors, windows, landscaping treatments) shall be less than 30 feet in length.
2. Buildings three stories and over must provide three distinctive materials, each a minimum of 10% of the total street-facing building façade, and a minimum of two different building colors. Distinctive building materials shall include a combination of stucco, brick, stone, and wood.
3.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4722652; v7 updated 2026-02-17).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 9.60 exists because California Government Code § 65913.4 requires cities to adopt objective, non-discretionary design standards for qualifying multifamily housing so those projects can qualify for streamlined, ministerial SB 35 approval. Within that chapter, Lake Forest Municipal Code § 9.60.020(A)(3) requires lighting on new multifamily residential projects to be recessed or hooded and downward directed, a full-cutoff-style standard that keeps light from spilling upward or outward. It applies citywide to multifamily development outside the MU 32, MU 43, UI 25 and UI 43 mixed-use zones, which follow Chapter 9.73 instead.
Violations & Fines
A multifamily project that doesn't meet the recessed/downward-lighting standard fails objective design review and cannot get streamlined SB 35 approval or a building permit until plans are revised.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Lake Forest require dark-sky-style lighting on new apartments?
Why does Lake Forest have objective lighting standards instead of case-by-case review?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lake Forest
California rules heatmap·Compare Lake Forest to another location·View the California outdoor lighting overview
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