Santa Barbara, CA Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

The City adopted its outdoor lighting ordinance as Chapter 22.75 of the Municipal Code (Ordinance 5035, 1997) to reduce glare, light trespass, and skyglow while preserving the character of its neighborhoods and night sky. Section 22.75.020 defines a 'shielded' fixture as one whose housing or optics prevents a direct view of the light source from normal viewing angles (i.e., less than 20 degrees above the horizontal plane). Section 22.75.030 prohibits, in all zones, mercury-vapor and low-pressure sodium fixtures and lamps (except for landscape accent lighting); searchlights, laser lights, and similar high-intensity lights (except by a special-event permit); fixtures aimed to illuminate a roof or awning; fixtures aimed only toward a property line; and blinking, moving, or intensity-changing lights (except small temporary holiday lights between late November and early January). The City's Outdoor Lighting Design Guidelines, applied through design review, call for full cut-off fixtures for area lighting, a maximum pole-and-fixture height of 20 feet, lamps in cut-off fixtures of no more than 400 watts, and an average illuminance target of 1 foot-candle (never to exceed 1.5 foot-candles) at ground level. Outdoor recreational court lighting is prohibited in residential zones. Low-voltage and motion-detector fixtures are exempted under Section 22.75.040. The City's dark-sky protections are a local ordinance distinct from Santa Barbara County's lighting rules for unincorporated areas.