Wicomico County, MD Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Section 225-73D sets district-specific limits for freestanding outdoor lighting in unincorporated Wicomico County. In the C-1 Select Commercial District, lighting not attached to a building can rise no higher than 25 feet and must use cut-off fixtures. The C-2 General Commercial District allows a taller 35-foot maximum, still with cut-off fixtures required. The LB-2 Light Business and Residential District is the most restrictive of the three: fixtures or poles cannot exceed 20 feet and must have cut-off fixtures whenever they aren't attached to a building.

These district caps sit inside the broader purpose of § 225-73A, which is to control spillover light and glare affecting drivers, pedestrians and neighboring land uses, and they work alongside the general requirements in § 225-73B that bar flickering or flashing lights and require light sources to be positioned so they illuminate only walkways and signage rather than spilling outward. Any application for site or development plan approval must include an exterior lighting plan under § 225-73C demonstrating compliance with these fixture-height and cut-off requirements before a permit issues.

The rule targets exactly the freestanding pole or fixture that isn't mounted to a building; lighting attached to a building's facade is addressed separately under the general safety-lighting requirement in § 225-73B(1) for nonresidential and multifamily entrances and exits.