Corvallis, OR Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Chapter 4.2 - Landscaping, Buffering, Screening, and Lighting sets the citywide baseline in Section 4.2.80, adopted by Ordinance No. 2022-12, effective June 1, 2022. Anyone proposing exterior lighting must submit a lighting plan for review, backed by information such as the manufacturer's fixture and luminaire specifications and the height of any free-standing, pole-mounted light, so Community Development can confirm compliance. The Code requires every light source, lamps, bulbs, and LEDs alike, to sit inside a full cut-off fixture that is either fitted with a translucent lens or fully shielded, the two standard ways a fixture keeps its beam pointed down and off adjoining lots instead of spilling sideways as glare.

Fixtures that could be mistaken for a warning, emergency, or traffic signal are barred outright, regardless of zone. Public street lighting maintained by the City through its electric-company contract is the one carve-out; every other fixture illuminating a building, sidewalk, multi-use path, parking lot, plaza, or landscaped area goes through the same plan-review standard. Some zones layer on a sharper rule: the Research Technology Center (RTC) Zone's performance standards at Section 3.24.40.05 separately require that artificial lighting be arranged and constructed not to produce direct glare on adjacent residential properties, making the trespass concern explicit for that district on top of the citywide fixture standard.