Sampson County, NC Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Sampson County Code § 2-28-11, Lighting, sets a general standard for unincorporated county properties: all lighting must be directed away from adjacent property and roadways, and lighting shall be directed onto the individual owner's site only. The county repeats and sharpens that standard for developed sites under § 2-32-08(8), Design Standards for Off-Street Parking, which requires any lighting of parking areas to be shielded so as to cast no light upon adjacent properties and streets, and again under § 2-32-10(8) for off-street loading areas. Together these provisions function as the county's dark-sky style control: rather than setting a lumen cap or fixture specification, the code bars spillover and glare onto a neighbor's land or a public street from any exterior light source, whether a yard light, a parking lot fixture, or a loading-dock light.

The rule sits within Article 3, Zoning Ordinance, adopted by the 2025 Revised Zoning Ordinance effective February 21, 2025, and applies only outside Clinton, Roseboro and the county's other incorporated towns, which set their own lighting standards. Compliance is reviewed by the Zoning Officer at the Zoning Permit stage, since parking and loading plans submitted under §§ 2-32-02 and 2-32-09 must show the layout the lighting will serve.