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

Unlike some California jurisdictions, Pleasanton has not adopted a comprehensive dark-sky ordinance with numeric foot-candle caps or fixture-shielding mandates across all properties. Instead, outdoor lighting is controlled through several layers. First, all residential and non-residential exterior lighting must meet the current California Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations), which set allowed wattage and require controls such as photocontrols and motion sensors. Second, the city's Objective Design Standards for housing sites include lighting standards that discourage the excessive lighting of parking lots and encourage smart controls to reduce light pollution at night. Third, project-specific conditions are applied through design review under Chapter 18.20; for example, photovoltaic and other facilities must be conditioned to avoid creating glare. For accessory dwelling units, the city's adopted standards (PMC 18.106) require that exterior lighting be shielded, directed downward, and located only at exterior doors and, where applicable, along the path of travel from the public right-of-way - a true full-cutoff-style requirement, but limited to ADUs. Street lighting uses LED fixtures on 16- to 18-foot poles spaced to meet photometric standards. Residents seeking relief from a neighbor's glaring light generally rely on these design-review and energy-code provisions plus California nuisance law rather than a dedicated dark-sky code.