Methuen, MA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Outdoor lighting in the City of Methuen is regulated by § 7.4(E) of the Methuen Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, adopted by the Methuen City Council in the article on signs and lighting.

The shielding rule is in E(1). Any luminaire with a lamp or lamps rated a total of more than 2,000 lumens shall be of fully shielded design and shall not emit any direct light above a horizontal plane passing through the lowest part of the light-emitting luminaire. That is the dark-sky core of the ordinance: no light aimed above the fixture. E(3) carves out luminaires intended solely to illuminate a freestanding sign or the walls of a building. Those luminaires skip E(1) but must be shielded so that their direct light is confined to the surface of the sign or building.

E(4) adds a curfew: outdoor lighting shall not be illuminated between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. Two exceptions apply. First, if the use is being operated, such as a business open to customers, or where employees are working or where an institution or place of public assembly is conducting an activity, normal illumination is allowed during the activity and for not more than 1/2 hour before and after it ends. Second, low-level lighting sufficient for the security of persons or property on the lot can run overnight, provided the average illumination on the ground or on any vertical surface is not greater than 0.5 footcandle.

E(2) applies to every luminaire regardless of lumen rating and addresses light trespass and glare. Sign lighting has companion rules in § 7.4(C): illumination must prevent glare onto any public way or into any lot used or zoned for residence, no sign is lit between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. except for businesses legally open and doctors' residence signs, and signs in RR and Residential (R) Districts can be lit only indirectly by a continuous white light.