Bethlehem, PA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Article 1318's General Performance Standards apply to every use and activity established after the ordinance's effective date, regardless of zoning district. Subsection (c), Heat and Glare, states that any operation producing glare or heat must run inside an enclosed building or be conducted so that it isn't visible, and produces no effect, beyond the property line of the lot where it happens. That puts the legal test at the lot line itself: it doesn't matter how bright a light fixture, welding operation, or outdoor process is on-site, the moment its glare or heat becomes visible or perceptible past the boundary, the use is out of compliance.

The same performance-standards section also regulates noise with a decibel table, 75 dBA for industrial uses, 67 and 62 dBA for commercial day and night, 60 and 55 dBA for institutional and residential, along with smoke, dust, fumes, odors, and vibration under neighboring subsections (a), (b), and (d), so a lighting or glare complaint is typically evaluated alongside those companion nuisance standards. Because the rule is written as a performance standard rather than a permit requirement, the Zoning Officer enforces it after the fact, on inspection or complaint, rather than through pre-approval of a lighting plan.