Monterey, CA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

6(B)(10) sets a specific dark-sky-style lighting standard for the MF1 overlay near the Monterey Peninsula Airport, one of three Multifamily Residential Overlay Districts the city created to add housing along Garden Road, Pacific Street/Munras Avenue/Cass Street, and Aguajito Road. The rule requires every light source to point downward and focus on its subject so no spillage results, and lists specific techniques: shielded and focused fixtures, concealing light sources from adjoining properties, energy-efficient lamps, daylight-quality light, and shading devices that match the building's design. It expressly bars "uplighting" of entire building faces or outlining a building's frame with light.

Because the overlay sits under airport approach paths, the section adds an extra procedural step found nowhere else in the zoning code: before any construction permit is issued, the developer must have an exterior lighting plan reviewed and approved by the Monterey Peninsula Regional Airport Manager, and the finished lighting must be unobtrusive, downlit, and fully controlled so off-site glare does not occur, on top of complying with FAA height and obstruction standards. 6(C)(11) and (D)(10), though only the MF1 version carries the airport-manager sign-off requirement.

Outside these three overlay districts, the general zoning code does not impose a citywide dark-sky lighting standard; a project elsewhere in Monterey is instead reviewed for lighting through the Architectural Review process under Article 25, now handled by the Planning Commission.