Several Rockland County towns including Clarkstown and Orangetown have outdoor lighting ordinances requiring full-cutoff fixtures and limiting light trespass. These dark sky provisions apply to new commercial and residential development. Village codes in Nyack and Piermont also regulate outdoor lighting for historic district preservation.
Dark sky regulation in Rockland is local. Clarkstown Code Ch. 290-52 requires full-cutoff fixtures for nonresidential properties, caps pole heights at 20-25 feet depending on zone, and sets maximum light trespass at 0.1 footcandle at residential property lines. Orangetown Code Ch. 43-6 similarly requires shielded fixtures and prohibits glare onto adjoining properties. Ramapo Ch. 376 and Haverstraw apply lighting standards through site plan review. Villages: Nyack (Ch. 360), Piermont, and Upper Nyack enforce historic-district lighting aesthetics, often requiring incandescent-equivalent warm color temperatures (2700K-3000K). None of the Rockland municipalities have formal International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) certifications, but many align with IDA model ordinance principles. New installations trigger review at building/site-plan stage, and non-residential signs are typically turned off between 11 p.m. and sunrise.
Non-compliant lighting: 100 to 500 dollars per violation per day; site plan approval can be withheld or revoked. Sign illumination past permitted hours: 250 dollars first offense, 500 dollars subsequent in most towns.
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See how Rockland County's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
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