Modoc County, CA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass (2026)

The County's published Code of Ordinances does not contain a general light-trespass standard setting a maximum light level (such as a foot-candle reading) at a shared property line. Instead, light-spillover concerns are handled through a few targeted provisions. The most directly applicable is Zoning Code Section 18.110.070(H), which requires that lights used to illuminate signs or advertising structures be installed 'so as to concentrate the illumination of the sign or advertising structure and minimize glare or direct illumination upon a public street or adjacent lot.' For home-based businesses, Section 18.100.010(D)(5) prohibits a home occupation from producing glare (among other nuisances such as noise, vibration, fumes, odors and dust) detectable to the normal senses at the boundary of the premises. Chapter 12.04, which sets county-road building-line setbacks, allows floodlighting poles in setback areas only if the floodlights are equipped with shields, a limited shielding requirement tied to road frontages rather than property lines generally. Where lighting from a neighboring property creates a substantial and unreasonable interference, the County's nuisance abatement provisions in Chapter 8.20 (public nuisances) may provide a remedy. Because there is no across-the-board residential light-trespass limit, enforcement against ordinary spillover from a neighbor's yard or security light is generally not available through a dedicated lighting ordinance, and residents typically rely on the sign and home-occupation glare rules, project conditions of approval, or the nuisance framework.