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

Section 4.5.110(A) applies to every new outdoor lighting fixture installed after July 1, 2022, unless it falls under one of the exemptions in Section 4.5.105(C), and it states plainly that no provision of this section is intended to preempt Springfield Municipal Code 8.200 et seq., Signs, or applicable State codes, so sign lighting is governed separately. Subsection (A)(1) requires every covered fixture to be designed as a full cut-off fixture or have a shielding method to direct light emissions down onto the site, the core dark-sky requirement that keeps light pointed at the ground rather than into the sky or onto neighboring parcels.

The same subsection separately bans laser source light or any similar high intensity light for outdoor advertising or entertainment under (A)(3), and bans the operation of searchlights for advertising or promotional purposes under (A)(4), closing off the two most visible sources of night-sky light pollution. Roadway, intersection and pedestrian-way lighting gets its own downward-shielding requirement under (A)(2), and externally affixed neon lighting is separately restricted under (A)(8) to architectural trim no more than 15 feet above grade. The Director can allow taller or brighter fixtures only through a Type 2 or Type 3 approval when personal security, vandalism or crime history justifies it, under the height-exception process in subsection (C)(2).