Placer County's strongest dark-sky standards are in the Tahoe Basin Area Plan, which requires all exterior lighting fixtures to be fully shielded and directed downward so they do not cast obtrusive glare onto adjoining properties or the public right-of-way. Drop-down lenses, mercury-vapor lamps, searchlights and flashing or blinking lights are prohibited, and lighting in trees is banned except during the winter holiday season.
Placer County's policy is to discourage outdoor lighting that shines unnecessarily onto adjacent properties or into the night sky. Its most detailed dark-sky standards apply in the Lake Tahoe portion of the county through the Placer County Tahoe Basin Area Plan and its Implementing Regulations (the lighting standards appear in Chapter 3.09.D of the Area Plan). Under those standards, all lighting fixtures shall be fully shielded and directed downward so as not to produce obtrusive glare onto the public right-of-way or adjoining properties. Parking-lot, walkway and building lights must be directed downward, and fixture mounting height must be appropriate to the purpose. The plan prohibits specific fixture types: drop-down lenses, mercury-vapor lights, searchlights, laser lights, and any other lighting that flashes, blinks or alters. Lighting attached to trees is prohibited except during the winter holiday season. These Tahoe Basin standards are enforced jointly with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), which maintains its own region-wide outdoor-lighting code. Outside the Tahoe Basin, exterior lighting in the unincorporated county is addressed through the Zoning Ordinance's general design and development standards and project-level conditions of approval rather than a single countywide dark-sky chapter, with the emphasis on shielding light from neighboring properties. Property owners in the Tahoe Basin should consult the Area Plan and TRPA before installing exterior lighting.
Installing unshielded or upward-directed exterior lighting in the Tahoe Basin, or using prohibited fixtures such as drop-down lenses, mercury-vapor lamps, searchlights, laser lights or flashing and blinking lights, violates the Placer County Tahoe Basin Area Plan lighting standards and may also violate TRPA's lighting code. Lighting attached to trees outside the winter holiday season is prohibited. Enforcement is handled by Placer County CDRA and TRPA and can include a notice to correct, conditions on permits, required retrofitting of fixtures, and civil penalties for uncorrected violations.
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