Tazewell County, IL Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

056 sets restrictions meant to protect against excessive glare and light spilling over to neighboring properties. Non-residential outdoor lighting has to be located, screened, or shielded so that neighboring properties in residential districts are not illuminated (A), and no fixture can be so intense that it causes glare or impairs a driver's vision (B). Height is capped countywide at 40 feet for the maximum permitted luminaire (C), with one carve-out: outdoor recreational uses approved as a special use, such as lighted ball fields, can go up to 80 feet, though they still have to meet every other requirement in the section (D).

For those recreational special uses, the county can also impose added conditions on when the lights run and where they point (E). Across every district, flickering or flashing lights are banned outright, with the sole exception of holiday decorations (F). Read together, these clauses function as the county's dark-sky-style control on light pollution: height limits keep fixtures from throwing light far beyond the property, shielding requirements aim the light downward and inward rather than outward, and the no-flicker rule keeps fixtures from creating a nuisance glow visible from a distance. The rules apply to any outdoor lighting in any zoning district, not just commercial or industrial properties.