Lakewood, WA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Lakewood's outdoor lighting code was written specifically to protect flight training missions at Joint Base Lewis-McChord as much as to preserve dark skies, and its shielding rule is the mechanical core of that protection. 095(C)(1) states that 'all luminaires shall be fully shielded and shall not emit light into the upper hemisphere around the luminaire once installed,' and requires that mounting hardware be built so it cannot later be adjusted to defeat that shielding. The code layers a second, more technical standard on top of shielding: the industry 'BUG' rating system for Backlight, Uplight and Glare.

Under subsection (E)(2)(b), any nonresidential luminaire installed in Lighting Zone 1 or Lighting Zone 2, which together cover parks, open space, military-critical land and most residential, mixed-use and light-industrial property, must carry a BUG uplighting value (U) of zero. Residential luminaires that carry a BUG rating must meet the same zero-uplight standard; those without a BUG rating must instead be fully shielded per Figure 6 of the code. Only in Lighting Zone 3, reserved for heavy commercial, industrial and manufacturing land, does the code allow any upward-aimed light, and even there it is limited to decorative, landscape or architectural floodlighting under the narrow exceptions in subsection (C)(1).

Color temperature is capped at 4,000 Kelvin citywide, and equipment such as laser lighting, unshielded string lights and luminaires over 500,000 lumens is banned outright unless a special permit is obtained. The Planning and Public Works Director maintains the Lighting Zone map referenced throughout the section and reviews all deviation requests.