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

Section 14-95(2) of the zoning ordinance's outdoor lighting standards sets numeric light trespass limits designed to confine illumination to the source property. Outdoor lighting must be designed, installed and maintained so illumination stays on the subject property, and Table 9-5 sets the ceiling for how much spillover a neighboring lot may receive, measured at any point along the property line of the lot receiving the light: 0.20 footcandles where the receiving lot is zoned residential, and 0.50 footcandles for all other zoning. The ordinance is explicit that a property owner can meet the standard through any combination of fixture shielding, directional control built into the fixture, fixture location, mounting height, or aim angle; the code even offers a reference point, noting that a typical 150-watt reflectorized incandescent floodlight produces about 0.10 vertical footcandles at 150 feet when aimed nearly head-on, and it requires spotlights and floodlights to be aimed so the beam does not cross the property line at all.

The same section carries companion standards for mixed-use, commercial and employment districts: correlated color temperature is capped at 3,000 Kelvin for most fixtures, and any decorative facade or landscape lighting exceeding that must be switched off between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The development services director enforces the lighting article under the same Article XV remedies as the rest of the zoning ordinance, including municipal citations under city code § 1-11.