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

The standards apply to all new development plus exterior alterations or additions that replace light fixtures or systems, exempting public and private street lighting, temporary construction or emergency lighting, and holiday lighting. A photometric plan, a point-by-point foot-candle layout on a 10-foot grid extending at least 20 feet past the property line, must be certified by a California-registered electrical engineer and approved before building permits issue, except for existing single-family homes. Prohibited outdoor lighting includes searchlights and laser-source lights, hazardous fixtures, mercury vapor and low-pressure sodium lamps, illumination of entire building facades and continuous light banding, roof-mounted fixtures (except for security), and any flashing, animated, or scrolling light.

Freestanding fixture height is capped at 15 feet within 100 feet of a residential or mixed-use/multifamily zone boundary, 35 feet in industrial zones, 25 feet elsewhere, and up to 70 feet for active-recreation Public Facilities uses such as ball fields, where lighting intensity cannot exceed 50 horizontal foot-candles measured from the infield. Nonresidential outdoor lighting must run on a time clock or photo-sensor and shut off during daylight hours and when the building is unoccupied and security lighting is not needed, and every new fixture must carry a rated bulb life of at least 10,000 hours.