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

Section 205-114 sits in the performance standards article of the Bristol Township zoning chapter, and its opening standard covers all uses: each one must minimize the production of light, heat or glare that is perceptible beyond any property line of the lot where it is produced. The section then turns that duty into hard requirements. Fixtures mounted on lighting standards must be angled downward at an angle no higher than 30° from a vertical line to the center of the earth. Lighting standards in parking areas and material storage lots cannot sit more than 100 feet apart, and no standard in the Township can exceed 25 feet or the height of the building.

Lighting in those areas runs on automated timing devices that reduce the uniform light level to 1.0 footcandles when the facility is not in operation; for facilities that operate 24 hours, the reduction happens at 9:00 p.m. standard local time. All lighting must be effectively shielded, with shields mounted on the fixtures, and outdoor lighting using high pressure sodium, metal halide, fluorescent, or incandescent lamps greater than 160W must be fully shielded so no light is emitted above a horizontal line parallel to the ground.

The measurable test is subsection (6): at no time can light measured at the property line for any installation or facility in the Township exceed 0.2 Fc. Wiring goes in underground conduit under the 1990 NEC at the applicant's expense, and the property owner or tenant operates and maintains the fixtures. The Bristol Township Engineer and/or Zoning Officer makes the final determination, and when either finds unacceptable light levels or nuisance glare, the property owner is notified to reduce the light or eliminate the glare.

Subsection (8) says this section supersedes conflicting requirements elsewhere in the chapter. Loading docks get a companion rule in § 205-122(G): no direct rays from loading area lighting can fall upon neighboring property or streets.