Burlington, WI Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Section 315-93 of the Zoning Code, titled Glare and heat, is one of the citywide performance standards in Article IX that apply to every structure, land use, and property regardless of zoning district. It states that no activity shall emit glare or heat that is visible or measurable outside its premises, and adds a stricter rule for direct or sky-reflected glare, which must not be visible outside the property's own zoning district, a tighter boundary than the lot line itself. Any operation that produces intense glare or heat is required to be conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building, and the section separately requires that exposed sources of light be shielded so they are not visible outside their premises, which is the section's direct answer to light trespassing onto a neighbor's yard or a public street.

This performance standard sits alongside the sign-lighting rules in Section 315-71, which independently require spotlights used to illuminate signs to be fully shielded so that they are not visible from streets or adjoining property, and the nuisance provisions of Section 315-65A(6), which separately bar any sign or illumination that causes direct glare into or upon any building other than the building to which the sign may be related. Together these sections give the Zoning Administrator authority to cite a property owner whose outdoor lighting, whether from a sign, a parking lot fixture, or an industrial operation, spills unshielded light past the property line.