Montgomery County, VA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Montgomery County Code Section 10-32 imposes a dark-sky lighting standard on the PUD-TND (Planned Unit Development-Traditional Neighborhood Development) zoning district, aimed at minimizing light pollution. Light must be directed downward toward the area actually being lit and kept away from living quarters. Street lights specifically must be dark-sky compatible, meaning they are designed and installed as fully shielded, full-cutoff fixtures rather than fixtures that scatter light upward or sideways. The ordinance caps lamp wattage by use: commercial lighting tops out at 250 watts HID or the lumen equivalent, while residential lighting is capped at 100 watts incandescent or 26 watts compact fluorescent, roughly 1,600 lumens.

In residential areas the code goes further, requiring the lamp or its glare not be directly visible from outside the property line. Floodlights or directional lights used to illuminate alleys, parking garages, and maintenance areas are capped at 100-watt metal halide and must be shielded or aimed so they do not spill onto other lots, the street, or outside the development. This full-cutoff, capped-wattage regime is the closest thing to a dark-sky ordinance in the county's code, and it is written into the PUD-TND district standards rather than as a countywide outdoor-lighting rule.