Bloomington, IN Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

090(c)(4) sets Bloomington's light trespass standard as part of the outdoor lighting chapter of the Unified Development Ordinance. The baseline rule caps light crossing any property line, other than one abutting a public street, at one footcandle measured one meter beyond that line. 5 footcandles and again as one-half footcandles, for any property line adjacent to an R1, R2, R3, R4 or RMH residential zoning district, so a commercial or multifamily site next to a single-family neighborhood carries a stricter cap than one bordered only by other nonresidential uses.

Subsection (C) standardizes how the City measures compliance: a light meter is held facing the light source at a height of five feet along the property line, in whatever orientation produces the highest reading, and that maximum reading is the one used to judge compliance, not an average. The trespass limit works alongside the shielding and full cutoff duties in subsection (c)(5), which require most fixtures to hide the lighting element from view at the property line in the first place, and it is stricter than the trespass allowance for outdoor recreational facility lighting, which subsection (e)(2)(B) sets at two footcandles because sports lighting is inherently brighter.

Multifamily and nonresidential parcels also carry separate total-lumen-per-acre caps under subsections (d) and (e)(1), so a site can satisfy the per-fixture light-trespass footcandle limit and still need to reduce total lumens to stay under those parcel-wide allowances. The City Planning and Transportation Department applies this standard when reviewing site lighting plans and when investigating a light-trespass complaint from a neighboring property owner.