Pinellas County, FL Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Pinellas County Code § 138-3509(a)(2) and (b) set the dark-sky fixture and height standards for unincorporated development; incorporated cities regulate outdoor lighting under their own codes. A full cut-off fixture is defined as a luminaire with no direct uplight, meaning no light is emitted above horizontal. These fixtures are mandatory for all outdoor walkway, parking lot, canopy and building- or wall-mounted lighting, plus lighting in the above-ground, open-sided portions of parking structures. An exception exists for lights properly installed in an architectural space, such as under a porch roof or a roof overhang, that already function the equivalent of a full cut-off fixture.

Subsection (b) then caps fixture height: 20 feet in residential districts and 30 feet in all nonresidential districts, whether the fixture is pole-mounted, wall-mounted, or mounted by another means. Lighting for outdoor sports fields is exempt from these height limits, though site compatibility is still reviewed as part of site plan review. The section also exempts street lighting entirely, and separately exempts government and Pinellas County School Board facilities, temporary construction and emergency lighting, federally required hazard warning lighting, seasonal holiday lighting, and up-directed flag lighting, though voluntary compliance by government facilities is encouraged.