Clarkstown, NY Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Chapter 290's performance standards, § 290-13, apply to every nonresidential use in Clarkstown and forbid a list of 'dangerous or objectionable elements,' including glare, in an amount that adversely affects the surrounding area. Subsection H sets the specific test for glare: the Building Inspector or Zoning Board of Appeals measures at fixed points beyond the use itself. In any residential district, and in the LS, CS, RS and PO Districts, that point is 25 feet from the principal building on the offending lot, or the lot line itself if it sits closer than 25 feet.

In the LO, LIO and M Districts the point shifts to the boundary of the nearest residential district. At that point, § 290-13H(4) bars 'direct or sky-reflected glare, whether from floodlights or from high-temperature processes such as combustion or welding, or otherwise' if it is visible from the measurement point; the restriction carves out an exception for lawfully permitted signs. Enforcement runs through the same performance-standards procedure that governs noise and odor complaints under § 290-13B: a complaint can trigger Board of Appeals review before a building permit or certificate of occupancy issues, with observations taken at multiple points around the property line.

Because § 290-13A limits the whole section to nonresidential uses, a homeowner's own floodlight or security light aimed across a residential lot line is not reached by this provision; it targets businesses, offices and industrial operations whose lighting spills onto neighboring residential land, not house-to-house disputes.