Amarillo, TX Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Amarillo does not regulate residential or commercial outdoor lighting with a numeric footcandle or lumen standard; instead, Division 8's Performance Standards for the I-1, PD and I-2 Industrial Districts prohibit glare and direct illumination that crosses the Bounding Property Line. Sec. 4-10-292(g), covering the I-1 and PD Industrial Districts, and Sec. 4-10-293(h), covering the I-2 Heavy Industrial District, use identical language: no use or operation may be located or conducted so as to produce intense glare or direct illumination across the property line, and no light source may be so intense that it becomes a nuisance or detracts from the use and enjoyment of adjacent property.

The standard sits alongside the same Division's noise, smoke, odor, vibration and toxic-matter limits, all measured at the Bounding Property Line rather than inside the plant, so an industrial operator has to control light spill the same way it controls decibels or dust crossing onto a neighbor's land. Site plan review adds a second layer for any nonresidential development: Sec. 4-10-228(f)(8) requires exterior lighting to be arranged so as to minimize glare and reflection upon adjacent properties as part of the criteria the Development Review Committee and Planning Director apply before approving a site plan, and the Downtown Urban Design Standards impose their own outdoor lighting review inside the Downtown Urban Design District.

There is no separate residential light trespass ordinance; a homeowner's security light or floodlight is not covered by Sec. 4-10-292 or 4-10-293, which apply only to industrially zoned uses.