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

Among the many individually-conditioned uses in § 154.008(C), most carry a lighting clause that only requires outdoor lighting to be "designed to minimize" light hitting adjacent land. Amusement parks, arcades, circuses, carnivals and fairs are the exception: § 154.008(C)(9)(c) instead requires that lighting "be shielded to prevent light from directly hitting adjacent property or any public right-of-way," language that points to actual fixture shielding rather than just design intent. This use also carries companion site standards that reinforce the shielding goal: subsection (9)(b) requires an eight-foot fence enclosing activity areas and buildings that stays locked when the fairground is not in use, and it lets the Planning Board require additional buffering for outdoor arenas "to protect adjacent properties from noise, light and glare." Subsection (9)(a) further requires the site to be on a roadway able to handle the traffic and sets a 100-foot setback for buildings, arenas, stadiums, exhibit areas and barns from all property lines and street rights-of-way.

As with the rest of § 154.008(C), the shielding requirement attaches to the special use permit for these listed uses, not to residential properties generally, so a homeowner's string lights or security floodlight is not covered by this section. The Zoning Administrator in the Planning and Development Department confirms compliance with the lighting, fencing and setback conditions before issuing a certificate of occupancy for the fairground or amusement use.