Whatcom County has no dark-sky or color-temperature ordinance. Title 20 zoning only requires exterior lights be arranged to direct light away from neighboring property and public roads. Bellingham's design review mandates shielded fixtures. Cities set their own standards.
Whatcom County has not adopted a full dark-sky ordinance, and there is no countywide full-cutoff, lumen, or 3000K color-temperature mandate on private lighting. Instead, Title 20 handles glare piecemeal: WCC 20.80.523 requires parking-lot lighting arranged to direct light away from adjoining property and the public road, and conditional-use approvals such as battery-storage facilities carry the same direct-light-away condition. Shoreline rules near Lake Whatcom require waterside building surfaces to minimize reflected light and protect the drinking-water reservoir. Bellingham goes further inside city limits, requiring shielded fixtures and capping light trespass at roughly one foot-candle at property lines through design review. Lynden and Ferndale review site lighting under their own codes.
There is no county dark-sky citation. Whatcom County Planning and Development Services acts on glare through zoning conditions and nuisance, requiring a noncompliant fixture reshielded or redirected; Bellingham enforces its standards in design review.
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