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

090 of the Redding Zoning Ordinance governs exterior lighting for commercial, office and industrial development citywide. Before a building permit is issued for new construction in these categories, the applicant must submit a lighting plan showing the location, size, height, orientation and design of every outdoor fixture, plus a detail drawing of the fixture type and wattage. The Development Services Department reviews that plan against three shielding standards. First, every exterior light must be designed, located, installed, directed and shielded so it does not create objectionable light or glare across a property line, and lighting must point downward and away from neighboring parcels and the street.

The code defines 'shielded' precisely: the light rays are directed onto the site, and the bulb or tube itself cannot be seen from an adjacent property or right-of-way. Second, all parking-area lighting, whether pole-mounted or building-mounted, must be fully shielded to stop spillover at the property line. Third, building-mounted lighting other than architectural accent lighting must be fully shielded with no upward light distribution at all; floodlighting is actively discouraged, and if a developer uses it anyway, it has to be shielded to prevent light from crossing the property line and from projecting above a ninety-degree horizontal plane.

090. Compliance is checked at the building-permit and site-development-permit stage, so a project cannot get through plan check with unshielded floodlights or pole fixtures that beam sideways onto neighboring parcels.