Bergenfield, NJ Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Section 186-108 lists the standards the Planning Board applies before granting site plan approval under Chapter 186, Land Development. Subsection L is the Borough's light-trespass rule: it requires that the lighting of the building itself, the surrounding property, and any signs on the property be designed so that no glare is produced at the exterior lot lines of the premises, meaning the light's effect must be contained inside the site rather than spilling onto neighboring parcels or the street. The same subsection sets a physical limit on fixture height, capping any light source mounted on a commercial, industrial or public facility, or elsewhere on the property, at 18 feet.

Beyond fixture design, the subsection also reaches traffic layout: circulation patterns on the site must be designed to eliminate, to the extent possible, glare cast by the headlights of vehicles moving through the property onto adjacent land. This lighting standard sits alongside other site plan criteria in the same section, including screening of parking and service areas from adjacent residential lots (§ 186-108F), drainage adequacy determined by the Borough Engineer (§ 186-108G), and protection of trees and natural features during construction (§ 186-108H), so a lighting plan submitted for site plan review is judged together with those neighboring requirements rather than in isolation.

Chapter 186's separate outdoor lighting article, § 186-59, and the site plan submission checklist at § 186-106 also require applicants to show the proposed location, direction, fixture type, power and operating hours of outdoor lighting as part of the application itself.