Springfield, OH Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Chapter 1118, Site Lighting, tells property owners in Springfield how outdoor fixtures installed after the Zoning Code's effective date must be built and aimed. Under § 1118.03(b)(2), every new and replacement lighting fixture must be full cutoff and downcast, meaning the fixture directs light down rather than outward or skyward; the only carve-out is for very small sources under 500 lumens (150 lumens for a light string such as patio lights) that also stay at or below 3,000 Kelvin in color temperature. Section 1118.03(b)(7) separately bans any light of limited spectral emission, naming low-pressure sodium and mercury vapor lights specifically, in all areas of the city, with no exceptions listed.

The same subsection requires light sources to be concealed or shielded to cut glare and light pollution, prohibits fixtures that shine outward and create direct glare, and caps color temperature at 3,000 Kelvin in residential districts and 5,000 Kelvin in nonresidential districts. The Community Development Director may order modifications to an installed fixture found out of compliance under § 1118.03(a)(3). Because Chapter 1118 sits inside the Zoning Code, an uncorrected violation is a Class B Civil Offense under § 1324.03(a)(6): a $100 fine, $200 if delinquent, under § 1324.99, reduced 75 percent for a corrected violation under § 1324.08. The Community Development Director enforces the chapter under § 1132.01 and issues a written notice of violation under § 1133.01.