Lancaster County has no dark-sky ordinance. Full-cutoff and shielding requirements are set by your city/borough/township. Example: Lititz Borough requires fixtures for roadways, parking, and walkways to meet IESNA fully-shielded criteria — no light emitted above 90 degrees — with a 1,800-lumen household exemption.
Outdoor-lighting standards are part of municipal zoning under the MPC, not county authority. As a representative example, Lititz Borough's zoning ordinance (Section 614) requires task lighting to be fully shielded and caps mounting heights (16 ft for non-cutoff fixtures, 20 ft for full-cutoff). Typical household fixtures under 1,800 lumens are exempt. Your municipality's dark-sky rules will differ — some Lancaster County townships have detailed full-cutoff standards, others have none. Ask your local zoning officer for the lighting section before installing pole lights or floodlights.
Municipal zoning enforcement — the zoning officer may require re-aiming, shielding, or removal of non-compliant fixtures, with district-court fines under the local ordinance.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
lancaster-county-pa
Lancaster County has no backyard-composting ordinance. Home composting is allowed statewide and encouraged by PA DEP; nuisance limits (odor, rodents, setback...
lancaster-county-pa
Lancaster County does not regulate artificial turf. Whether you may install synthetic lawn, and any impervious-coverage or stormwater limits, is set by your ...
lancaster-county-pa
Lancaster County does not require or restrict native-plant landscaping. Whether a meadow or native garden is allowed depends on your municipality's grass/wee...
lancaster-county-pa
Rainwater collection is legal statewide in Pennsylvania; neither Lancaster County nor the state restricts it, and PA DEP encourages rain barrels for stormwat...
lancaster-county-pa
Lancaster County sets no watering schedule. Water-use restrictions in Pennsylvania come from the state Drought Task Force and PA DEP. Watering limits are vol...
lancaster-county-pa
Lancaster County sets no weed ordinance; your municipality does (e.g., Lancaster City's six-inch limit). Statewide, Pennsylvania's Controlled Plants and Noxi...
See how Lancaster County's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.