Anchorage, AK Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

AMC 21.07.100 reaches parking lots in two ways. It covers all parking facilities located in nonresidential zoning districts, and it separately covers parking facilities that serve nonresidential uses, so a lot is regulated based on either where it sits or what it serves. The technical standard is borrowed rather than homegrown: fixtures must deliver the level of illumination, the uniformity ratios, and the minimum lumen intensities specified in the illumination guidelines set by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). Those measures work together, with illumination levels and minimum lumen intensities keeping the lot bright enough while uniformity ratios govern how evenly that light is distributed across the facility.

The section then adds Anchorage's own design limits on top of the IESNA guidelines. The lighting system must be designed to prevent glare to motorists on public streets, and it must prevent light trespass onto adjoining property. A lot can therefore satisfy the IESNA numbers and still fail this section if its fixtures throw light into drivers' eyes or across the property line onto a neighbor's land.

Compliance is checked before construction, not after complaints. Community Development staff review lighting and glare statements as part of site plan approval, and a nonresidential project cannot get its building permit until that review is satisfied.