Compton, CA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

5, Parking Area Design, sets the physical standards every off-street parking lot in Compton must meet, and subsection (k) is the City's light-trespass rule: illumination has to be designed and maintained so glare or direct light does not cross into any adjacent residential zone, while still providing a minimum of one footcandle across the lot so it stays usable and safe at night. The subsection puts the actual fixture design in the hands of the Architectural Review Board, which reviews light standard specifications as part of the site plan approval required under Sec.

7 before any building permit for a new commercial, industrial or multi-family parking facility is issued. Because the standard is a design-and-maintenance duty rather than a one-time inspection, a property that lets its lighting drift out of adjustment, say a relamped fixture that now throws glare over a rear property line into a house next door, is out of compliance even if the original installation passed review. The Building and Planning Department fields light-trespass complaints from residents and can require re-aiming, shielding or replacing fixtures.

The very next subsection, (l), pairs this with a noise-buffering duty for the same parking areas, showing the City treats glare and idling noise as the same category of spillover onto neighboring property that a parking lot owner must design around.