St. Joseph County enforces outdoor-lighting rules under Zoning Ordinance §§ 154.350-154.355, requiring full-cutoff fixtures and shielding to curb light spillover. The rules apply to commercial, industrial, and multifamily uses; single-family homes are largely exempt.
St. Joseph County's Zoning Ordinance includes real dark-sky-style lighting standards, uncommon at the county level. Section 154.350 states fixtures must be designed to protect against the spillover of light onto abutting properties and against glare onto public rights-of-way. Section 154.351 requires that full-cutoff, cutoff, and semi-cutoff fixtures be mounted parallel to the ground with no built-in uptilt, and Table 154-3 caps pole height and wattage by fixture type. These rules apply to multifamily, commercial, industrial, special-use, and PUD properties. Under § 154.353(F), lighting on single-family and two-family lots is exempt except for the glare rule in § 154.073(B)(7). Flashing and string lights are prohibited by § 154.355.
Non-compliant lighting on a covered commercial or multifamily property violates the St. Joseph County Zoning Ordinance and can block the improvement location permit until fixtures are corrected. The Area Plan Commission enforces the standards; penalties follow § 154.999.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how St. Joseph County's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
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