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

8 sets Urban Building Type design standards for multi-level parking garages, part of the UDC rewrite under Ord. 26-019 (effective June 1, 2025). Beyond requiring garages to read as a cohesive extension of the main building's facade, the standard directly targets light spilling onto neighbors: where a parking structure sits at a building's perimeter, every level must be screened so parked cars are completely hidden from view, and required guardrails at that perimeter must be built of opaque, solid materials specifically to screen vehicle headlights from adjoining property.

The exterior lighting clause goes further: all exterior lighting on the garage must be angled downward, and the fixtures must be designed to reduce glare onto adjacent public right-of-way and residential areas. Architectural screens are also required elsewhere on the facade to articulate the building and, in the code's own words, shield lighting. Because this standard lives inside the Urban Building Type standards for multi-level parking garages specifically, it binds structured parking built under the Form-Based Zoning framework; it is not a general citywide floodlight or property-line footcandle ordinance covering every exterior fixture.