York County has no dark-sky or outdoor-lighting ordinance for private property. Lighting standards — shielding, maximum brightness, and curfews — are set by individual boroughs and townships in their zoning or subdivision ordinances under the PA Municipalities Planning Code.
Pennsylvania has no statewide dark-sky mandate and York County does not impose one countywide. Some York County municipalities include outdoor-lighting (or "lighting and glare") standards in their zoning or subdivision and land development ordinances (SALDO) adopted under the Municipalities Planning Code — typically requiring full-cutoff/shielded fixtures for new commercial development, limiting foot-candle levels at property lines, and setting curfews for non-essential lighting. These vary widely from one municipality to the next. There is no county astronomical-lighting zone. To learn what applies to your project, check your municipality's zoning/SALDO lighting section or ask its zoning officer.
Nonconforming lighting on a regulated development is a municipal zoning/SALDO violation; enforcement is by the local zoning officer, usually requiring correction plus fines.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
York County, PA
The York County Solid Waste Authority actively encourages backyard composting and mulch-mowing and runs a county yard-waste drop-off at the Resource Recovery...
York County, PA
York County has no rule on artificial turf. Whether synthetic grass is allowed, and any permit or stormwater requirement, is decided by your borough, city, o...
York County, PA
York County does not require or ban native-plant landscaping. Native meadows and pollinator gardens are legal and encouraged, but any 'natural landscaping' e...
York County, PA
Pennsylvania places no restriction on collecting rainwater, and York County does not ban it. Rain barrels and cisterns for garden use are legal statewide; la...
York County, PA
York County imposes no countywide lawn-watering restriction. Limits, if any, are set by your water supplier (such as the York Water Company) or your municipa...
York County, PA
York County has no countywide weed ordinance. Noxious weeds and overgrown vegetation are declared a nuisance and abated by your borough, the City of York, or...
See how York County's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
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