Richardson, TX Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Article XXII-B, Section 1 makes the performance standards applicable citywide: to every zoning district and to any area developed under a special permit, with no use exempt from conforming. Section 2(E)(1) then addresses glare directly. It bars operating a use so that it produces intense glare or direct illumination across a bounding property line at an intensity that creates a nuisance or detracts from a neighboring property's use and enjoyment. The operative design mandate follows: all outside lights must be made up of a light source and reflector selected so that, acting together, the light beam is controlled and not directed across any bounding property line.

That is a fixture-design and aiming requirement, distinct from the numeric foot-candle ceiling the same subsection also sets for light intensity at the property line. Because Section 1 applies the standard to every district, a homeowner's uplighting, a shopping center's parking-lot fixture, and a data-center campus light in the Telecom Corridor all fall under the same shielding duty; there is no separate, looser rule for residential yards. Site plan review already requires a lighting plan for multifamily, townhome, and nonresidential development under a separate site development article, giving the city plan commission a chance to check compliance before construction, but the shielding duty itself binds every outdoor fixture regardless of whether a lighting plan was reviewed.