Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, Morris County, New Jersey, regulates outdoor lighting through the performance standards in Chapter 430, Zoning. Section 430-258 is titled Glare. Its opening sentences cover industrial processes: any process producing intense glare or flashing of lights must be performed within a completely enclosed building so that no discomfort glare is disseminated beyond the building, and no key reflected or indirect glare is permitted for an outdoor operation except where required for safety purposes.

The lighting sentences set the outdoor standards. Lighting of any interior roadway or driveway must conform to American Standard Practice for Roadway Lighting, ASAD 12.1-1963, sponsored by the Illuminating Engineering Society. Lighting of any parking area or loading and unloading area must conform to the strictest standards in the Illuminating Engineering Society's Recommended Practice for Outdoor Parking Area Lighting, with spacing and type of luminaire chosen so that spill light is kept at a minimum objectionable glare to any point beyond the lot line. Areas in use after dark must be situated for maximum shielding and concealment of lighting from adjoining properties. Lighting of a sign, building exterior, fountain or decorative fixture must be directed toward the object to be lighted.

Other sections push the same way. In the LIW-2 Limited Industrial Wholesale District, § 430-162F(3) requires a dealership applicant to demonstrate that exterior lighting will not result in the abnormal reflection of light commonly called "sky glow." Off-premises signs in the O-2 district must use shielded, top-mounted lighting to reduce light pollution under § 430-186E(11). Enhanced active adult townhouse developments under § 430-268 must use streetlight fixtures with photometric controls that shield the source of lighting from adjacent buildings or properties, at no more than a sixteen-foot mounting height. At site plan review, § 225-50F asks the reviewing board to find that the location, power, direction and time of outdoor lighting will not adversely affect adjoining residential districts.