Woodbury, MN Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Woodbury's zoning code does not adopt a named International Dark-Sky ordinance, but it embeds dark-sky-style controls in its site and use standards under Chapter 24. Building and site lighting must comply with the zoning lighting standards (referenced as Sec. 24-236), and impacts from light and glare must be minimized to the greatest extent practicable. For specific uses the code is more prescriptive: at motor fuel stations, lighting on the underneath side of a canopy must be recessed-mounted with flush lenses and downward directed, which is a classic full-cutoff approach that prevents upward and sideways light. For parking ramps and decks, photometric plans must be designed so that interior lighting extending outside the structure is limited to 0.4 foot-candles at the property line. Athletic-field lighting at schools and places of worship is allowed on standards up to 100 feet in height but must minimize light and glare impacts. Together these provisions push exterior lighting to be shielded, downward-directed, and contained on the property rather than spilling onto neighbors or the night sky. Residents and developers planning significant exterior or site lighting should confirm the applicable standards and whether a photometric plan is required for their project with the Planning Division.