Under Sec. 78-668, outdoor lighting on regulated development may not exceed 0.75 footcandles at any property line, and 3.0 footcandles at any public street right-of-way. Fixtures must be aimed downward and cutoff to keep glare and spillover off neighboring property.
Buncombe County's lighting standards cap light spillover onto neighbors. Sec. 78-668(e)(1) sets a maximum of 0.75 footcandles at any property line and 3.0 footcandles at any public street right-of-way, with a maximum average of 4.5 footcandles for the developed project area. Accent and facade lighting must be directed toward the building and aimed downward rather than upward. Full cutoff fixtures are required above 1,250 lumens to control glare. These limits apply to new commercial, industrial, public and multi-family development and new dusk-to-dawn security lights; single-family home lighting is exempt except for dusk-to-dawn security lights. Inside a town, the town governs.
Exceeding the property-line footcandle limits is a zoning violation enforceable by the zoning administrator through permit denial and corrective requirements.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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